Home.....Sweet Home?

Here are a few pictures of the place we will call home for the next few months:

Our "master" bedroom

My kitchen (sob, sob, sob)

and Sidney's bedroom/our living room/dining room/study

Yesterday we arrived at our temporary (for the next two to three months) home at Chievers Army Lodge in Belgium which, from what I've seen so far, is little more than a few buildings in the middle of a whole lot of fields. Because we have a child we are entitled to a family suite which is really just a hotel room with a microwave and two hot plates. It makes me shudder to think that this is considered a spacious room and I am wondering how the much larger families I've seen are packing into their compact spaces. But we were also fortunate enough to get the key to one of the few storage cages which is allowing us to store our suitcases and other items that don't fit in our room. (Apparently these storage cages are coveted so we are lucky to get one).

No sooner had we arrived and checked in then I set to work making our space "homey." Suitcases were unpacked and stowed in the a fore mentioned storage cage. Closet and dresser space was allotted and a home was found for Sidney's toys. We made a quick run to the nearby commissary to shop for a few essentials to get us started. It has been a long time since I was in an American grocery store and I found myself wandering the aisles in amazement at what I saw. Some items I didn't even recognize and other brands had introduced new flavors that were completely foreign to me. I felt like a fish out of water. Upon reaching the checkout I was greeted with sticker shock--yes Zosia you are no longer in Albania. Our few items cost more than a week's worth of groceries in Albania.

Back "home" life took on a very normal routine. Groceries were crammed into our one cabinet, the refrigerator was immediately overflowing, and two loads of laundry were done in the stackable washer and dryer at the end of the hallway. Once we mastered the microwave, dinner consisted of Stouffer's macaroni and cheese for the little one and Chinese rice bowls for the adults washed down with tepid German beer that hadn't yet had the chance to chill completely. Following dinner Glenn washed our three dishes one at a time filling both the sink and the drainer as he did so. The routine felt like home but with the added bonus of breakfast served to us buffet style downstairs each morning and daily maid service.

Obviously we are not living in the lap of luxury but we will survive. After all, this is a part of the fun and adventure of being a military family; every few years you pack up and relocate never being quite sure of what you will encounter. Sometimes it will be fancy and other times less so; some moves are a breeze while others are a struggle. If nothing else this experience will make us really appreciate our new house once we move in. But in reality, for me home is where the heart is so as long as I am with my family that is home enough for me. So yes, this is home sweet home (until we pick up and do it all over again).