Wednesday December 28
Lesson learned: DO NOT drop your car keys from a second floor window or balcony! Who knew, right!?? So, my dear Elder went outside and forgot his keys. He buzzed up and asked that I "throw" his keys down. "I'll just bring them to you" I sweetly said, although the idea of throwing them down was much more appealing and he knew it! "No,just throw them down" he said, not wanting to cause me any trouble as he is so wont to do. I obediently (wink) went to the balcony outside our living room and threw them to him. I didn't want them to land on his head since they were rather heavy and so I aimed for a bit in front of him, and indeed they missed his outstretched hands and landed with a clanging heavy sound on the pavement. "Oh my, I hope that didn't damage the key" I said with a feeling of horror. And off he went. Later, as we got into the car to run our errands, the car wouldn't start. After several calls to the mission office in Berlin and the Opal dealer we realized that indeed the keys were damaged! We felt like foolish children. The only spare key was in Berlin 3 hours away and the cheapest plan was for my dear Elder  to take the train (70 euros) round trip to the mission office to pick up the key. But he had the brilliant plan to call a member of the church who travels for his job and asked him. No, he wasn't traveling but his daughter was coming up from Berlin to visit on Friday and she would bring the key. Hooray! Expensive crisis diverted, although we will still have to have a new key made which will cost around $100. Ugh. Lesson learned. I hope to spare you that lesson...again, DO NOT DROP CAR KEY FROM HIGH PLACES!!