It's my day off today. I can't believe it's December 2nd and I'm very comfortable in a long sleeved tee shirt & yoga pants w/my window open and a nice breeze blowing back the curtains, looking out to a sunny day and a wavy ocean. I began my morning w/coffee and a movie and went downstairs by 1P, where I found the family eating lunch. So I ate lunch for breakfast, enjoying the kids' & Scrubby's greetings as well as John & Wendi's bantering. Wendi got to sleep until 9am and no hint of a migraine was brewing (usually by 12N she's starting medications to stave one off)
. After her initial greeting she dove right into scheduling the upcoming week w/me, while John teased us (mostly her)
from the corner of the kitchen.
It was a long week w/30 hours tending my duties here @ the compound as well as another 10 hours w/organizing clients. In addition to Wendi fighting through new/awful side effects to the IVF drugs she has been injecting into her system, she made all of the arrangements for us to meet @ the government office in Angra to attain my extended 90 day visa. My original 90 day visa in Portugal expires on 12/24 and the family will be leaving for the US soon, so we needed to get those wheels in motion prior. Attaining this extension allows me here until March 24th @ which time I will need to leave the country and re-enter for a new 90 day period free and clear. Should John's parents be delayed past that, we will be going through this process again for another extension, that will culminate with my stay here to a full year. That's the plan for now.
The weather has been beautiful, so we walked through Prai, as a family yesterday, but most of the shops were closed to another Portuguese holiday. Still we did find some good pizza and it was nice to be out as a family. John & Wendi left @ 5:30P for John's Christmas party until 10:30P. They came upstairs chatting and laughing, describing their evening out.
We decided to get some photo's with the kids with mommy & daddy all dressed up. Clearly Abigail has no idea that within moments of this, they will be leaving her with the boys & I. In between each photo, she'd come running to me, say something directorial in baby talk, then go back and sit into a pose. Hilarious!
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| Posing still after the family was done! |
Wendi with her little lady (donned her her big brothers' old slippers)
. This was a dress Wendi found on her shopping day out, where she entrusted her 3 friends and auntie on What To Wear - to update her current sporty, kid friendly only wardrobe.
Her hair down, she paired this dress with leggings boots, and the complimentary color of aquamarine blue jewelry.
John's blue shirt complimented her nicely as well!
It is so good to see them happy. It is hard to feel so helpless to ease someone's painful struggle. That said, I've admired watching Wendi fight her way through it - such as the day, when she could barely speak, couldn't make eye contact - but there she was outside with her kids & the dog, running back and forth for some exercise, arms pumping up & down above her head, her only solace that maybe that would help and that this would pass in a couple of weeks. (These side effects she is experiencing are strictly hormonal and side effects from the powerful IVF drugs. I can't imagine choosing to go through that, but @ least we know that she will be back to herself once she is through this process - @ least she knows that!)
. She is a trooper and still manages to get a lot accomplished and maintain patience and wonderful interaction with her 3 kids.
So, back to the start of my day off! After a long shower where exfoliating and shaving were involved, it feels wonderful to be lotioned and straightening my room and clean laundry, watching movies and writing. And when I hear Abigail screaming to evade her nap (as the rest of family tries to nap), after 10 weeks, neither do I feel any compulsion to assist. I did help w/dishes after a wonderful dinner, (thank you John) of T-Bone steak, grilled asparagus and great salad.
Today marks the beginning of my 11th week living with the Kitsteiner family on Terceira Island, and life has gotten busier here for me. Beginning of November, thanks to Wendi, I was the guest speaker (Professional Organizing) @ her MOPS group. There were 17 MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers), and 2 first timers, just there to hear the Professional Organizer. Though Wendi had been "advertising" my organizational expertise, as well as for pet-sitting on the Lajes Military pages, I'd had interest, but no booking's as yet. Since then, I've organized the Base Chapel and 3 entire house bookings, and continue to set appointments for consultations and assessments. As well, I am learning a new area of organizing - the families have PCS (Permanent Change of Station) changes all of the time, thereby finding purging more difficult, as they never know if their next house/housing will be larger or smaller. I love a good challenge, thus have been enjoying working to understanding this new realm and how to fit that into the mix of organization. I've worked w/clients w/drastic life changes, but I had not yet worked with those that had to prepare for ongoing lifestyle changes.
John & Wendi's friends, stationed in Germany, came to visit the week of Thanksgiving. Then Nick & Kristy Seeliger w/their 2 boys were invited to spend Thanksgiving Day where the menu was: Beef Wellington, Turkey, Mashed Potatoes (John); Ham (Nick), Sweet Potato casserole & corn pudding (Linda); Stuffing, green bean casserole and rolls (Wendi); Pecan Pie (Linda); Pumpkin Pie (Kristy); Oreo Balls (Wendi). I kept the house straightened, kitchen cleaned and all dishes done & Shane kept kids entertained.
I missed my boys very much, but was comforted to know they were having their big dinner on their end of the world with large families as well - something I was unable to provide them. I did cook a big turkey dinner each year and we'd spend the day together. I teared up when people were kind enough to ask about them, but I purposely didn't call them until much later in the week.
Wendi decided she needed a wardrobe update, so enlisted 3 close friends and myself to help her splurge on herself as well as help with the fashion end of it. We drove to Angra on "black Friday", which in Portugal doesn't exist, so there were no crowds to fight. It so was nice to see Wendi excited, happy and having fun with her girlfriends - no kids in attendance for 5 whole hours!
Of course we had to lunch after such great success and found a Chinese Restaurant to rehash our morning finds. Wendi has never spent more than $100 on one shopping trip - whose finds mostly consist of $10 Old Navy shirts. The only thing she does spend money on is her athletic shoes (size 13 women's feet)
and her jeans or slacks with a 37" inseam (she's 6'3")
. We were all very proud of her! At one point her friend Carla said, "Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone." to which we heard Wendi's statement from behind the curtain, "ooooh, I've certainly stepped!" - as Linda and I were just bringing clothing to her dressing room to try on - then she'd step out with a smile, question mark or both on her face. We mostly oooo'd and aaaah'd, w/ only a few items that didn't work.
When guests come, we always watch the weather and plan a sight-seeing day or 2. Here are some from Angra that week. The weather here is amazing - sometimes it rains on and off for days @ a time. Thanksgiving Day garnered us 50 mph winds with rain. But aside from that, we mostly get 60's w/partially sunny days. It gets a little cooler @ night. There are no furnaces here - just fireplaces. We use space heaters on the 1st floor (where the kitchen, laundry, offices and eating areas are)
and the fireplace, on the 2nd floor (where the 3 bedrooms and large living room are)
. Heat rises, so my 3rd floor suite is always good. I've only used my heater 3 times so far. Not bad for December 2nd!
For 17 days of November, I was hired to pet sit for a family in the same village of Porto Martins, just about a block away. I charge a little less the daily rate than the kennel ($15 per)
here does for dogs. This was a little different: 2 dogs, 6 chickens, a duck and a canary! I gave up the notion of going back and forth there and just moved in....and came back and forth to my niece's instead. Here are some photo's:
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| this was my view out the 2nd floor Kitchen window |
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| 3rd floor M. Bedroom window. My time here offered some respite for me - quiet @ the end of the day & prior to starting the next. I also got very sick for about 48 hours, whereas John was grateful to have a place for me to be quarantined from his family. |
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| The chicken coupe & duck w/o a pond (i feel bad for the duck) | | | | | | | |
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We didn't stay for the entirety, as it loses something when you don't understand the language and cave precipitation drips on heads, no matter where you stand. It was a good drive and such a great day, we culminated our trip with a stop along the ocean, so drawn to how beautiful it was.
This is in the town of Biscoit and the pictures do not do its magnificence any justice at all. When those waves smash into those rocks - the sight and sound cannot be matched.
We didn't stay for the entirety, as it loses something when you don't understand the language and cave precipitation drips on heads, no matter where you stand. It was a good drive and such a great day, we culminated our trip with a stop along the ocean, so drawn to how beautiful it was.
