It’s my birthday!!

Hi, today I am 26, I don’t feel 26. I usually find myself reflecting on my birthdays about where I am and where I think I should be…and I am nowhere near where I thought I’d be at this point in my life. You know, career, marriage, house, and a baby. That was all supposed to happen by now….I think. There was no specific plan, I think I just thought I’d be further along. Is that common? Anyone else? 

Well regardless, I am in Brazil with my wonderful husband and living with my gracious in laws. Life has definitely NOT turned out how I planned, but I am so grateful for all the experiences I have had and I am having.

Not only am I 26, but I have also lived in Brazil now for 8 months. 8 months! I can’t believe I have been here that long! So I want to give you 13 things I love about my life right now and 13 things I want to accomplish before I am 27!

1. My husband is my best friend, my rock, and everything I always wanted him to be (except the pooper scooper…but that’s an argument for a different day)

2. That no matter where I am, the church is the same! That I have a calling and the members care about us.

3. That I have gotten to know Sidnei’s family so well. And I now understand my husband a 1000 times better.

4. I am finally understanding the majority of what people say. And for the most part I can speak back.

5. I have lost weight without effort! WOO HOO! LOL Seriously my diet is MUCH healthier now and that is always positive. (The down side is not having clothes to wear)

6. I wear flip flops EVERY SINGLE DAY. And I love it. I only wear close toed shoes when I run or walk. Which isn’t very often.

7. I have a much greater appreciation for my family, my friends, and my country. So much so that you wouldn’t believe.

8. 13 things is wayyyyyy too many. Though there are many more things I love about my life…like Lime ice cream…Im going to skip to goals.

Things to do before I am 27:

1. Decorate our first house! I am VERY excited about this!

2. Travel a little. The first place I want to go is the beach. Next Our Preto. My dream is Buenos Aires.

3. Be able to read and write in Portuguese

4. Learn to put together meals and cook all on my own.

5. Travel to meet good friends who have been a great source of support.

6. Start doing some sort of exercise and stick to it. I think I’m going to start running in the mornings when Sidnei gets up for work…it seems to be relatively cool then.

7. Find a job.

8. Find a hobby. I can’t think of any hobbies I’ve ever had, unless you count reading. But I need to do something a little more productive.

9. Be a better wife and stop beating dead horses. Once I start I just can’t seem to stop myself!

10. Splurge on something that I want..something for me. I haven’t decided what that is yet.

11. And the goals have to stop now too…..just too many!

Happy Birthday to me! Parabens! Feliz Aniversario!

We are celebrating with family today. I had someone make a cake, my SIL ordered salgados, lots of sodas, and I’m going to wear the new shirt I bought myself! Pictures to follow!

I’m not the only one sporting a new do around here!

Gracie finally got her hair cut too! She got her first one in October <strike> but since Sidnei has a case of the lazies when it comes to things he doesn’t want to do </strike> and her hair had gotten so long!

Not to mention the crazy heat all day…it was definitely time! Let me just say, it was time.

 

The people did a really good job this time. They used the machine instead of the scissors. In fact they did such a good job, she’s practically naked. Look! You can see her freckles!

 

Needless to say, she was not thrilled with me and would not “speak” with me upon her arrival. But she did give me the stink eye…see?

Of course I wasn’t very nice either. I think there was some comment about my dog now looking like a bobble head. But I have no idea who would have said such a thing.

Now ignore the mess and tell me these two aren’t precious?

Lessons, babies, and hair

You were all very concerned..and oh so sweet! And I am sorry, it was not my intention to concern you all, merely to relay what I later considered to be quite a doozy of a Monday! With that said, thank you! And don’t worry, lesson learned!

Nani , the contact information is absolutely essential! You are completely correct! And I do carry it with me with English and Portuguese! It has all my American information, relative information, and medical information in case something were to happen! But just so everyone knows…everyone should carry that information with them. Not just if you live in a foreign country. In a crisis, it is a major time saver.

Moving on, about telling Sidnei…You know, I tell him everything. I mean absolutely everything. I did tell him that I didn’t feel well today and about the bus accident, but I didn’t divulge the entirety of the not feeling good. This is only for his sanity as well as my own. If he knew, he would seriously not want me to go out by myself at all. He already worries, and I know for good reason. But I swear people, if I don’t get out of this house…well people may get hurt. And no one wants that to happen. And just so you know, when I told him I didn’t feel good, I suspected because of the heat, he did tell me I wasn’t going by myself anymore. I ignored him and walked away.

Next: There will be no having of the babies. At least not by me. At least not right now. Granted, we will make beautiful babies, have no doubt. But remember the kissing taunt? You know so and so, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes so and so with a baby carriage. All that is correct. However, the left out a VERY important part. The house. The house comes before the baby. Because there is no room for baby in a 10x10 (if that) room in your in laws house.  Not unless we want Momma to be institutionalized. But I promise, the minute we suspect the pitter pattering of tiny feet, you will be among the first to know.

Now since Tricia asked so nicely….here is the hair.

This was about a week after it was butchered cut. I’m still waiting for some growth before I am able to take a picture with curly short. But to be fair, EVERY SINGLE time it sounds like a great idea to cut my hair. No matter how short I cut it, I always go through a mourning period. A period of the wailing and the gnashing of teeth. And the WHY ME? And why would I do that to myself? What was I thinking? I hate it every single time. This time was no exception. So I will wait patiently while I grow it out again. But next time, will someone remember and remind me? So as to avoid all the wailing and gnashing? No doubt Sidnei will remember. He is NOT a fan. He mourns the loss of my hair almost as much, if not more, than I do.

Case of the Brazilian Mondays

Today I went into centro to go and pay bills. It seems that’s all I ever do is pay bills…and we don’t even have that many yet… Anyway, the past couple of weeks it has been really, really hot. Today was no exception, but accompanying the heat was a cool breeze. So as I am waiting in line at the Caixa, the breeze hits my sweat, and gives me the false illusion that I am not hot.

Let me tell you something about lines here….they are long. And even when they aren’t long, you will wait. Today they had one person helping people buy lottery tickets and paying bills. So I waited for a lonnnggg time. When I finally got inside (since the line wrapped around outside) there were only 4 more people in front of me when the warning bell in my head went off. My brain said, “Ummm, you aren’t feeling so good suddenly.” I pushed it away and said, “No, I’m alright, I just need some water. I will be fine, I’m almost there!” Again, brain says, “You really don’t feel good, you are dizzy and kind of feel vomit-y” Determined as ever, “I’ll be fine, I’ll go get something cold as soon as I’m finished.” One more person in front of me.

My turn comes up, I walk to the window, dizzy, hand the agent my bills, and then she says something. However, I have no idea what she said, because I am hanging onto the counter for dear life trying not to pass out. It felt like a bubble went over my head. All sounds were muffled, I couldn’t hear anything. But I knew people were concerned. Someone from behind me was holding me up. All I could concentrate on was not falling over, I actually wore a skirt that day. I did manage to say ‘agua.’ The agent found me some water and a stool! So I sat, I drank, and felt much better after a minute. Except that my hands were weak, shaking, and tingling really bad. It was all very strange. This lady kept trying to talk to me, except I was focusing on staying conscious and Portuguese was difficult. So I told her I didn’t understand her. Then there was an uproar from all the women behind me, saying I shouldn’t be out by myself. Poor thing. It was too hot. I was accustomed to this weather. Poor thing, make her drink more water. Then someone rubbed some kind of salt/alcohol solution on my wrist. I don’t know why, I was just glad there were these wonderful people here. Strangers, who didn’t know me from Adam, super concerned and taking care of me.

After I really felt much better, the drama subsided, I paid my bills, apologized profusely, thanked everyone more than once, and promptly went and bought agua de coco (coconut water) and an ice cream cone. Coconut water helps to rehydrate you and the ice cream for the sugar (and I love ice cream).

Just as a mention, you will be the only souls on this earth who know this information. Because if my family here were to find out, I’d never go out alone again. And Sidnei would just flip out (I also had my first trip to the hospital last week, which may have also contributed to this episode. I will blog about that soon as well).

After all this, I went and bought the dog food (I would have gone straight home, but she was completely out) and then I went to find the bus. Exhausted, head pounding, my bus finally arrived (though not the one I wanted. The one I wanted drops me off directly in front of my house, but runs less frequently. The one I caught is about an 8 minute walk home). I got on the bus, sat myself down, and after a few minutes I doozed off. I didn’t really sleep, but my eyes have a tendency to get really heavy (I know this is not very smart, but seriously I just couldn’t help it. I was sick and it was all warm..I was trying to fight it and I was sitting across from the guy who takes money and I was in a single seat), so I go back and forth with them opening and closing, not really sleeping. However, I became fully awake when the bus rammed into a car door. We were just cruising down the street when some idiot (who parked on the side of the street) threw his door open without looking. So we had to stop. And wait, and it was REALLY hot. I started feeling all vomit-y again. We finally were allowed off the bus, but had to wait for another bus to come and get us. But we had to wait in the sun. No shade anywhere to be found. So I promptly sat myself on the curb, with my head in my lap, skirt and all. An hour and a half later, I finally arrived. Then the dog threw up.

To make a long story longer…I have a case of the Brazilian Mondays.

 

*But I’m still extremely grateful to all my kind, kind strangers who helped me. I wouldn’t have made it if the girl behind me wasn’t holding me up.

Clean Up

I just wanted to do a little clean up while I have nothing better to do I'm thinking about...

Sidnei and I had a really nice Christmas together. We woke up, exchanged stockings and just got to spend some quality time together. Something we haven't had much of since he's been working constantly! I baked a breakfast casserole all the stars and heavens aligned and everyone enjoyed it!

• New Year's Eve was fun! Sidnei's family came in completely unexpected from out of town, so we had a big churrasco. (Of course, it didnt' start until almost 11 PM. Now Sidnei knows not to make me wait so long to eat. I am quite grouchy when I got almost 12 hours without eating.) I sucessfully put myself in a red meat coma and promptly fell asleep just short of 3 AM. Everyone else made it until 430-5. Including my neighbors, the loudest of them all. Gracie survived all the fireworks..but just barely. I think we need to get her some medication...

• I did not make any resolutions. I just want this year to be happy. Full of happiness. That will take a little work on my part as I have been quite the complainer as of late. I'm working on it. But 2008-2009, we very much down with a little up. We need a year of up, I'm betting that this year is it!

• I got my hair cut. I showed the lady the picture. She did the exactly what I DIDN'T want. So that was fun. Basically I have a short bob now. I was NOT happy. On the upside I won't need to look for another crappy hair dresser for quite some time. In fact, I think I'll just wait it out until August when I'm planning to go home. That should give my locks some time to recover. There will be a picture one day. But probably with straight hair, because when my hair is straight it looks a little better...despite that it's not exactly even. When its curly, I look like a 10 year old girl. And every Brazilian within a 50 mile radius will tell me so.

• Tomorrow I am leaving for Belo Horizonte. With my MIL. By myself. Until Tuesday. I'm only slightly worried. And I am leaving Sidnei for the first time since I have arrived here, which I know doesn't sound like a big deal to most people. However after spending a year apart, it's causing me some slight anxiety. I just hope I have a good time. On the upside, I get to meet Corinne!! Hooray for a friend!