Humor Me

I am THAT person who giggles at inappropriate things (and times).
Maturity has obviously passed me by.

So, that stated, it won't be much of a surprise that I laughed out loud when I saw this...
and then took a photo...
and then continued to giggle through the store just thinking about it...
and then when I got into the car, I texted it to a friend to ask her to laugh along with me...
and am now sharing it with you.

Because I am THAT person.

 

 

 

 

 

everyone grows up wanting to be a pap star

Have you ever lost it over something that's really not that funny?




Here's something you may be relieved to know (or not): The "Keep Calm" craze has apparently hit everywhere.

Keep calm folks (for today we BBQ), keep laughing (consider throwing your own Pap Star party)
and have a great weekend!

Até logo!!

Forever Friends

A sad fact about The Grockle Family (still sticking with the British terminology), is that once we've got our sticky fingers of friendship wrapped around you, there is no escape. Like gum on the bottom of your shoe.

No getting rid of us.

Well there is, but don't expect ME to tell you how it's done.

If you don't believe what I'm saying, ask the poor couple we met just before leaving England- we're planning their next five holidays for them as we speak.

One family who knows this better than most is the Lopes Family. I wouldn't normally include names on this not-so-private blog, but Narciso is a Carpenter of very high quality and has a business here in Terceira- so a little publicity won't hurt.

The white house on the right of the photo was ours

We met Narciso and his beautiful daughter when we lived in this house, 13 years ago.


They knocked on our door and introduced themselves- well, she introduced them both since she was the only one who spoke English.
Through her, Narciso was able to tell us that he had done all the wood in the house we were renting.

Later, we learned that all of the wood in his house was crafted by him-EVERYTHING. Cabinetry, stairs and bannisters, beds, dressers, tables and chairs. Incredible.
He's done church doors around the island and if my old photos weren't so bad, I'd pull those out.... oh what the heck-

Here's a mix of old and new (translation: don't judge me for the poor quality available 13 years ago).

This is his shop. It would be hard to work with this view, wouldn't it?

In his shop he was working on this for a local church.

 

 

We decided that we needed a custom-made bed... with night stands...

and a step (since I wanted it high off the ground)... and while he was at it, a telephone table and some tapestry bars.

We gave him the measurements for American-sized furniture, told him how much clearance we wanted at the bottom and left the design to him...

church door

Now, I worried about my bed for a little bit, because I had seen some of his really intricate work and thought, "Holy cow, it's going to take me hours to dust my bed every week".   

BUT, he surprised me with a simple, elegant design. 

I was SO happy.

 

  

Baby A1 with Senora Lopes and daughter C

Senora Lopes, baby A1 and J1

Before staining...

and after.

 

telephone table. Check out the REALLY old answering machine (it used mini cassettes!)

We were so pleased, that we did something REALLY stupid.  

We told others about him and the orders started rolling in. He wasn't just "ours" anymore...

and let's be honest. A lot of Americans can be real jerks when they're living overseas- the DH has worked with plenty of people who get downright indignant that other cultures don't do the things the way they're accustomed to. So we were concerned that our friends would now suffer from the publicity. 

Neighbors had bedroom furniture made and these friends (seen above) commissioned an extra long dining table and chairs.

The Portuguese people on this island are not large in stature. They are smaller, so worktops are built at a shorter height and doors, gates, walls, fences are all built for an average 5.3 person. These American measurements must have felt like a joke to the poor  man.

After all of these years, we have kept in contact (apparently no bad experiences with other business have spoiled our friendship) and promised that one day we would make it back.

After arriving back on Terceira, I sent a message to A's daughter (who now lives on another island) to say we were going on a tour out where her parents lived and that we'd be looking for her Mom's shop (she does textiles). She phoned her mom and so, A opened up her shop HOURS early, hoping that she might see us...

The poor people we were traveling with were trying to look through her shop when everything came to a complete stop as she spotted the DH and squealed (I then threw myself across the counter, but it wouldn't do- she came out and got a proper hug).

13 years gone like it had never passed.

She hasn't changed a bit

BTW, I did eventually step back and let people look.

Dinner with the Lopes Familia

They've taken an English class since we were here last. "A" can say a few things, but Narciso has only mastered, "Yes, please"- but it's very good and we discovered it can be used in multiple scenarios and always gets a good laugh from all.

Some of Narciso's latest designs:

This is SO lightweight! I think he said this piece won a contest...

Coolest Nativity ever

He's like a big kid. Showing the kids how to spin the top

A and N Lopes, our forever friends

** If you're interested in anything you've seen in this post, email me and I can put you in contact. Custom-made designs don't come cheap and is paid in Euros, but SO worth every euro cent.**

His FB page can be found HERE

Or better yet, have you started considering traveling to Terceira for yourself yet?


Until next time,

Adeus!

Disarming a Dislocation Disorder

Wow,

what is it with (blog) construction workers? This blog went under construction nearly two months ago and there's no further progress than there was then. Can't get good help these days.

Let's not dwell on the "what isn't" and just move on to the "what is" for the sake of your eyes and my carpal tunnel, shall we?

So, the 2nd month anniversario of our residency on Terceira is about to commence and holy smokes, I can't believe how quick the time is passing!

There's always a bit of a 'dislocation disorder' that comes with every move, and unfortunately, this one has been extreme. Boo-hoo-leave-me-alone-I'm-eating-this-pound-sized-bag-of-M&Ms extreme.

I've considered divorce, adopting out my children, running away from home and permanently becoming a non-showering recluse. Anyone who knows me IRL, knows this is a symptom and not characteristic of...well, maybe the desire to run away is normal, but the rest- I kind of like showers and these people I am forever bound to.
Perhaps it was leaving such great friends and fabulous country, perhaps it's the fact that we'll just be recovering from the move when we'll get our next duty station information, I don't know, but it has sucked. The worst part is, I really do love it here, depression? I ain't got time for that.


 It helps to get out and experience the glorious circumstances in which we find ourselves here in the Açores. It's so incredibly beautiful and if you can manage to avoid the base and the people who live closest to it (who are a little jaded and fed up with the "American experience"), your arm might end up quite bruised from pinching yourself so often to make sure it's not just a dream.

We're landing! After a looooong journey, it's so good to see we've finally arrived.

I'm not the only one who has had enough of plane transfers

But then, there's the hot, crowded bus to take us from the plane to the terminal...

Our home until we get a home

The Açores experience high winds in the winter. This should be proof: concrete road signs. This little disaster-seeking bean is anxiously awaiting for the time when we can put him up against a chain link fence and the wind will hold him there.

Add caption

 I'm not thinking, "OMGosh I have cute kids and everyone should see pics of them. I'm showing that our walk to the swimming pool is still in view of the ocean. This is where you say, "oooooh, ahhhh".

One of the great things about being LDS is that we pretty much have a church anywhere we go. When we lived here before (when the goofy teen was only a 1 year old), our branch was Portuguese and American. Now they've divided into two branches- something I find quite sad).

We instantly got stuck in (I wonder if I'll ever drop my British colloquialisms?) and took Little Miss Ky out to our favourite swimming hole in Quatro Ribeiras while her brothers went to a Soccer (futbol!) camp on base.

This is a little trick I've learned over the years: Put a child (or three) in front of your thighs so you don't have to continue editing yourself out of photos. I do need the teens to cover the double chin though...

Incredible, isn't it?

 Horizontal

Vertical

still beautiful 

(anyone ever wonder how my iPhoto library has become so big? 

Now you know why).

That pool you see by the building is a salt-water pool. It comes in handy if you have little guys that you don't want swept out with the tide, or for days like today where the jelly fish are the ones taking advantage of the lava pools.

I'm betting the stairs and handrails of this swimming hole were installed quicker than I've revamped In the Gutter.

Because I have lost your trust with my sporadic posting of late, I will assure you that I have several posts queued up waiting for automatic publishing. My therapy. That, "count your blessings" kind of therapy that seems to always work.

Please check back in when you regain use of your eyes soon for two months worth of sightseeing photos (the equivalent of sitting in our living room and being subjected to our holiday slideshow, only with no popcorn).



Until then,

ADEUS!

Bem vindo å Açores!

Might as well title all of my posts in Portuguese since that's what my screen looks like. Who knew that when you are in another country, all of your advertisements, pop ups etc come up in the national language?
Ok, maybe you did know that, but did you know that your browser bar also speaks foreign languages?

It gets a bit tricky.

can you even SEE that?

We have been BUSY! BUSY! BUSY! (insert Professor Hinkle's voice). (ocupado!
ocupado! ocupado! doesn't quite have the same ring to it...)

Bulletin-style post:

Since we arrived, we've played some tennis, swam in a pool, BBQd some burgers at the TLF (hotel). The boys attended a "soccer" (footy) camp (it was not huge, was far below the  level of what they're accustomed to and the poor older boy towered the entire group- he was the same size as or taller than than the adult coaches). 
My kids are good sports. They could have given up on the first day, but they stuck it out and made some friends.

We were invited to dinner with a bubbly/friendly group of church people and played Pit! where we sadly discovered that Hubby and I are set in our ways on how games are supposed to be played... 

We then were able to move into our house. Luckily, some very nice people loaned us sheets and some kitchen items to survive on since the af deemed it unnecessary to send a smaller shipment ahead (as we do with EVERY other overseas move).
I thought we were quite creative the way we took turns eating cereal out of a mixing bowl.

The older boy left for a week-long church camp in Germany.

We took a fabulous "Right Start" tour, a boat trip around one side of the island (and discovered two of our children get sea sick), and a tour of the cheese factory, pottery shop, church and had some great meals out.

Festas do Praia then kicked off with a "work" dinner, roasted whole pig and all-
where the youngest boy suddenly became vegetarian.

The island is beautiful and we're eager (and apprehensive) about starting a new life here. There are photos that go along with all of this you see, but we've run into a bit of a technical issue and will have to do that at a later date, but for now...

Welcome to the Azores!

Under Construction

Well, we're here.

The beautiful city of Angra do Heroismo

Although, until our belongings find their way here, I don't really feel like we're here, here. You know? It's like I'm on a very long (and quite tiring) holiday. I still wake up with that panicky feeling that I need to pack up our things and move on to the next hotel.

Along with the changes we're undergoing (as a family moving to a new country), I feel that this blog needs to undergo some serious changing as well. I'm not the same person I was when I began this nearly 7 years ago. The title and blog description don't fit anymore and I'm no longer an "American living in Norfolk"- it all needs changing.

My question to you all is: Do I start a new blog and close this one down?

I have two book reviews waiting to be published, so I feel a little bad moving house while the publishers are waiting on me, but this blog has been extremely personal in some spots and I'd like to go a little more public with our new life, new location.

Have you moved blogs before? Did you lose/gain people?

Holy Spirit House.
I have a photo of our oldest son in front of this one from 13 years ago

Until next time,

Até logo!