House Pics!

Here are some of the rooms in the house. The only room that is totally done is the master bedroom. The other rooms here still need a few things done. The other rooms I won't even attempt to show to the public...they are far from done!

Lajes House

Aches & Pains

This was a crazy week. On Monday Shelby flew back to Germany for a doctor appointment and was supposed to return Wednesday. I should have known that was too good to be true...BUT he did get some help and treatments started right away, so I guess his stay was a good thing. For years he has had back pain and numbness in his leg that he rarely complains about or mentions. He's brought it up to the doctors at Ramstein many times but it was always dismissed and they would offer him some Motrin and pain killers and send him on his way. He would usually refuse the pain killers because taking them means he would be unable to control and do his job, thereby screwing over his coworkers and making them pick up his slack when he can't go to work. We all know he's too nice a guy to do that, so he suffered and just kept bringing it up to the docs hoping someone would finally decide to investigate. At last after a failed PT test from back spasms (oh NOW all of a sudden they are concerned when he can't do PT!) the doctor did decide to order some tests and look into the problem. Ten days before we were scheduled to fly to Lajes they did an MRI and he didn't get the results into we arrived here at Lajes and he saw the doctor here. MRI showed a bulging disk and a badly pinched nerve. See doctors, he wasn't making it up! So the end of last week they booked him an appointment with a neurosurgeon back at Landstuhl in Germany and off he went.

The doc in Germany couldn't believe he wasn't in more pain and is able to function like he does. He also said he never should have been allowed to PCS to a place like Lajes with this condition. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? WE TRIED EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN TO STAY IN GERMANY AND HIS BACK WAS MESSED UP THE ENTIRE TIME AND COULD HAVE BEEN THE REASON WE COULD HAVE STAYED?! Deep. Breath. Deep. Breaths. Anyway.... The doctor felt Shel is a good candidate for steroid injections to see if that helps before jumping into surgery. (Whew!) He wanted to start the treatments right away though and that meant Shelby wouldn't be coming home the next day (Wednesday) as planned. Tuesday afternoon Shelby got his first injection and said it hurt like hell, made him dizzy and they had to start an IV on him. Yuck. Here is a picture of his back and him getting his injection.

Then he got two days off to run around and live it up in Germany waiting for his second injection on Friday. He ate at our favorite restaurant, hung out with our friends, went to our old house and saw the neighbors, and ate a bunch of delicious food he insisted on sending me pictures of. The food pictures about send me right over the edge into a jealous rage. Lucky for him I was just too damned tired from chasing Colin alone all week and trying to set up the house to throw all his crap out on the lawn. Friday he went back to the doctor for his second injection and was able to fly home today. His plane was due in at 8 PM but has been delayed some, so now hopefully about 10 PM he will make it in.

I took care of some school stuff and I'm almost ready and set up to start with my graduate classes on August 9th. I'm still excited, but I think that is because the classes haven't started yet. Once I remember what a pain in the butt school is and what a nit picky perfectionist I am when it comes to school work I probably will be a lot less enthused. I managed to get some things put away and worked on around the house. I totally finished our master bedroom now. I'm waiting on the slow, slow mail to bring several things I've ordered to finish up some other rooms. Then there are the rooms I just haven't touched. I took some pictures, but I am not posting them until later because I don't want Shelby to see them before he gets home. I want it to be a nice surprise when he gets home. Otherwise it was a long, boring week without him around.

Wordless Wednesday

Forgive Me Friday

I know I haven't posted in a while. And I missed Wordless Wednesday, shame on me. It's been a little chaotic around here. I am slowly getting stuff unpacked and put away, but it's moving along at a snail's pace. My house looks a lot like this...

I managed to get Colin in school part time from 8-11 Tuesday through Thursday. I thought I'd get a lot done while he was out, not so much. I've learned three hours is just long enough to go to the gym, come home and shower, then have a cup of coffee while I unpack for 30 minutes. Once Colin gets home getting anything done is impossible unless I park him in front of the TV or Wii and I refuse to do that. I'll get there.

Right Start Island Tour

Right Start Cultural Island Tour

Right Start is a mandatory briefing (aka death by powerpoint) that you must attend when ever you move to a new base. They give you all the need to know information about the place like special rules/laws and other things you need to know to survive. They also have all the base organizations come in and talk to you about the services they offer (chapel, counselors, recreation and morale, banks, etc...). Here at Lajes, Right Start is a two day ordeal and on the second day they load you on a bus and show you around the island. Since we had been here for almost three weeks before we could attend Right Start we had already seen a lot of the island, but we found out about a few places we hadn't been to yet. The weather was probably the nicest since we arrived on the island and the views were spectacular. I took lots of pictures, so enjoy :)

Wordless Wednesday

Faith, Fish, Earth & Cheese Tour

Faith, Fish, Earth & Cheese Tour

Today Shelby and I got a special treat. Our gracious neighbor offered to watch Colin so we could go on one of the tours offered through Outdoor Rec on base. So Shel & I had a kid free day to do some sightseeing and lunch! Today's tour was Faith, Fish, Earth & Cheese, which are four pillars of Azorean culture. It started off by taking us to a pottery house which has been handed down over generations. We learned how the dirt/clay from this island is too hard, and the dirt/clay from another island is too soft, so they bring the two together in a mixture that is perfect for sculpting and making pots. The most common kind of pot is a baking dish used to make alcatra, a traditional local dish. It was an interesting little stop and now we know where the store is so we can go back and buy some things.

Next stop was the Queijo Vaquinha Cheese shop and factory. We got to taste four different cheeses that are very popular on our island and also made right here. As part of our tour everyone got to choose a cheese wheel to take home with them. After the cheese stop we headed just down the hill a bit to an area where you can swim and there is a campground across the street. There were beautiful views from that spot and I got lots of pictures there.

Next we visited the San Mateus Church, which is the tallest church on the island. There were people inside decorating and preparing for a wedding that was scheduled at 2. The church was very beautiful in its own way, but after seeing some of the old cathedrals and churches in mainland Europe, it wasn't quite as impressive. The wood work and carving was something to appreciate though.

Finally it was lunch time and we went to what we hear is the best seafood restaurant on the island. It is right next to the fishing harbor in San Mateus, so all the fish inside the restaurant literally comes straight out of the ocean and into their store. I had shrimp and squid skewers that were grilled, and Shelby had grilled octopus. Both meals were amazing and we also had bread, goat cheese and wine with the meal, which was all covered in our tour. We were told that when you go on the island tour through your right start briefing (mandatory welcome to the island/inprocessing stuff) you will also come here. Our right start briefing days are Tues & Wed of next week, so we'll get to go back next week I guess, can't wait! After lunch we walked up the hill to an ice cream shop. Everyone on the tour could choose 3 scoops of ice cream for dessert. I was so stuffed and ready to get back in the van by this time!

The last stop of the tour was a brand new store called Quinta dos Acores. It is a local company that produces all organic beef and milk products from their cows, all without hormones, chemicals, preservatives, etc... Their calves are all fed milk only from their mothers, no bottles or machines, and their cows only eat grass. The store also sells products made in the Azores such as liquors, wines, pastries and baked goods in addition to their meats, milks, yogurts, cheese, ice cream and such. We got to taste more ice cream here (oh God, MORE ice cream?!) and we got gift bags with milks and yogurts in them to take home. This tour was awesome, I am pretty sure they payed us to go on it! We got at least our $35 worth and then some between all the included stuff/freebies. It was a fun day and a great way to see the island and get to know some new places.

Oh Happy Day!

This morning was the start to a good day. I went to a local salon in Praia and had a long overdue pedicure. It was good, relaxing, and cheap! I am used to paying 25€ per pedicure in Germany and while they get the job done, they are more about purpose than pampering there. Here they indulged me a bit more than in Germany, so that was nice, and I got some fancy nail art (because the Portuguese ladies are all about being colorful) all for 13€! Deal! Here are my pretty tootsies in case you are interested...

While I was getting my toes done Colin and Shelby went down the road to the boardwalk area by the beach and Colin practiced riding his bike without training wheels. He's getting good! So proud of him, here are the videos Shelby took, look at him go! Later this afternoon we headed back to the house to let Colin nap and to wait for my car to arrive. Yay! The very nice owners were willing to just drive it to our house since we are right next to the base anyway. This car cracks me up. It's so tiny, but you see them everywhere, they really are one of the most popular cars on the island. We've already ordered all kinds of stuff to jazz it up and "pimp my ride" as Shelby says. I'll keep you in suspense on that one though, you'll have to wait impatiently on the mail just like we do. Here she is before her makeover.

My island bomb, a 1993 Nissan Micra, somewhere in size between a Smart Car and a Mini. I'm trying to think of names, but probably will wait until she's all done up. I originally thinking of something ironic like a big masculine sounding lady name. You know Bertha, Grisella, Helga (forgive me if I just made fun of your name...try to forgive your parents too!) something like that. A friend of mine had a good suggestion of a more island appropriate name like Ginger or MaryAnn. So now I'm torn. This afternoon we went and bought a geocaching GPS so we can give that hobby a try. If you don't know about geocaching click here. There are several caches hidden around the island and we figure it's a great way to discover every nook and cranny the island has to offer. I'm sure we'll end up seeing a lot of the great outdoors that we wouldn't end up seeing otherwise. Colin thinks it's great fun because we are hunting for treasure, what kid wouldn't love that?! We went (unexpectedly) to find a cache that is close to the base area. Shelby hadn't shared with me this little tidbit and I was not exactly wearing appropriate hiking shoes to be climbing up the side of a giant hill. So I gladly stayed behind with my Kindle and read while he and Colin set off up the mountain. They found the box and Colin was very excited. Here is a picture I snapped of him smelling flowers before he headed up the mountain.

Happy Friday!

Three Little Reasons to Smile

1. I think I've come to a decision regarding career path, I'm at peace with it, and kind of excited too. Graduate school! I applied to a program, and I think I'm really going to do it come fall. Unless I get a call offering me my own classroom at the school here (which is pretty unlikely given the current enrollment numbers) I think I'm going to just finish up and check getting a masters degree off my list. :) 2. The shipping company called today and our household goods arrived yesterday on a plane from Ramstein. YAY!!! My stuff didn't fall off a boat in the middle of the ocean, I believe all 9 crates are accounted for and in a warehouse right down the road. I just have to wait until next Thursday for it to all be delivered. Hurry up Thursday! :) 3. I get my "new" car tomorrow. No more loaner cars, we will own our very own island bomb as of tomorrow. Now I can start practicing and getting a feel for the clutch in my own car. I'm still convinced I'm going to roll off a hill sooner or later, but I'm getting a little better each day. :) That is all, carry on. :)

Independence Day

Celebrating July 4th in another country is always interesting. It's a big deal to us, but the rest of the country just goes on as normal because the holiday means nothing to them. So everything off base is just business as usual, and because most of this base is run by Portuguese, a lot of stuff on base was open normal hours too. So in the morning we ran around and did some errands and a little shopping and sightseeing off base. The base celebration started at 4pm and had bouncy castles and food booths and that kind of thing, there was live music and of course fireworks at 10:30.

We let Colin bounce his brains out for a while, then pigged out on yummy stuff like burgers, nachos, kebabs and lumpia. We did skip the fried Twinkies and fried Oreos though, gross! I thought it was totally ironic that the medical squadron was the booth selling the fried sweets, shouldn't they be promoting healthier food choices? Anyway we ate and then headed home to rest up and relax for a while. Closer to 8:30 we went back to the festival and let Colin jump some more. Our neighbor made a very good point to the event sponsors that the alcohol tent was WAY too far away from the bouncy castle heaven/kid area. The parents stuck with all those tired, bounced out kids need the drinks the most and shouldn't have to walk across the festival to get them! Once it got dark they started selling light up, glowing, flashing toys in all shapes and sizes. I knew as soon as I laid eyes on the flashy light saber thing I'd be coughing up some cash to keep my kid happy. Thankfully it only set me back 5 bucks and Colin was thrilled. He and Daddy played with their light saber swords while waiting for the fireworks...

I was impressed Colin made it all the way up to 10:30 without being too devilish and awful. He was tired by the time it was all over though and was eager to get inside and get in his bed once we finally made it home. The firework show was very good, one of the better ones I've seen. It went to music and was very well done.