Moving Forward

We've become spoiled with this 'little holiday' in Great Britain. Most military assignments have us moving around on average every two years. In July, we will have been here seven glorious years. The U.K. will forever remain my home away from home. I'm heartbroken to leave it.

However, if we weren't open to new adventures, we never would have signed up for this life. Believe me, the "perks" aren't all they're cracked up to be. Free health care means long waiting times for appointments. Overseas health/dental care for dependents...  well, we're all alive.

But I digress... as usual.

We've received our next assignment and with great joy, I can tell you that beginning in August 2013, In The Gutter will be reporting from the third largest island in the 9-Island Azorean chain, Terceira.
We're going back to the the island we loved and to the local Portuguese friends we've missed these past 12 years.

It takes some of the sting out of leaving England.

Since you dropped by, let me get out my slides and bore you with some very outdated photos!

 Ok, I did mention they were poor photos, right? I don't think we had a digital camera yet (much less a DSLR). These were probably from our 8mm video camera.



The brightly coloured buildings are Holy Ghost Houses

 Our first house in Quatro Ribeiras where
we met our lovely friends, The Lopes Family.

Since the winds often get to hurricane force, the windows have metal shutters to protect the glass. We lose power several times a week which makes for great Monopoly games by candlelight.

 Villa Nova. Renowned for burgers that taste exactly like a Big Mac. May not seem like a big deal to you, but when you've gone 2-3 years with nothing that tastes like what you grew up with, they're heavenly.
We're not usually 'fast food' people, but we like a fun little family outing now and again to enjoy something so not good for us.




Twice a year, the base flies in Burger King and they open up their operation for one day in the school. People queue up around the building for a taste from home.

Oldest boy, J1 in front of a Holy Ghost house. The boy and his wife are desperate to join us and we still wait to see if he got an assignment there on this cycle...

  The island is VERY small. There's very few places you can be and not see the ocean.

The Portuguese have great respect for the ocean. We were warned never to go near it when it "is angry".

C Lopes with J2

Swimming holes are pools protected naturally by lava rock, with steps and handrails added. We swim with the fish. Sometimes we don't swim when the jellyfish take over...

 Rainbows are frequent. 

I saw my first circle rainbow from the top of the island just before we left in 2001

Our dear friends, The Lopes and baby A1. We're in N. Lopes Carpentry shop where he was custom designing our bed...

The finished product. It's African Cherry wood-gorgeous-and the movers broke it when we moved here. The repairs were expensive and shoddy, so we're looking forward to N putting it right.

N and A Lopes working on the 8-seater table our friends had made.

Wow, you're still here?

If you suffered through that, then surely you won't mind the next 7 months that I'll need to spend catching up with all of our great experiences here in England? 

Somebody pinch me. We're going back to the Azores!!

The True Debate

Put away your opinions on Obama V Romney now please, because what really needs our full attention now is the decades-long, Star Wars V Star Trek conversation.

I, not really a Trekkie but definitely a fan at the time, married a Star Wars geek. This is NOT a part-time hobby for the man, however, he does NOT dress up and go to conventions, so hypothetically there's still hope you're our only hope Obi Wan for him.I love him anyway. It does make it easy to shop for him.

Let's face it, with the recent Disney purchase of Lucasfilm, the marketing for Star Wars is about to boldly go where no man has gone before. Star Trek in our house may just die off like the dust-gathering Star Trek Phaser remote control I refuse to throw out. Star Wars toys and collectibles abound.

So, recently when contacted to review the Angry Birds Star Wars Playing Cards, how could I refuse?

Apparently I am the ONLY person left on the planet not playing Angry Birds because when I told Sexy Guy about the cards, I found out that he plays Angry Birds all of the time and had been looking forward to the new Angry Birds Star Wars app. Who'd've guessed? My unkempt garden might have been a clue. No wonder the man is always "so busy".

The cards are beautiful and my nine-year old-like husband was happily scanning through them saying, "And this bird does this, and this bird does that". He's a happy guy. I'm happy because as a family, we already play a lot of card and board games, and these colorful little gems just made those evenings that much more fun.

In my opinion, these playing cards would make an AWESOME stocking stuffer for the geek in your life- or a simple gift for Star Wars peeps that you may think a lot of, but don't necessarily have the budget to buy a big gift.

The Angry Birds™ Star Wars™ Playing Cards are available at all good toy retailers. For further information visit www.cartamundi.co.uk.

Now isn't this more fun than discussing politics?  Go. Buy. Play and may the force...