Saturday, December 29, 2007

More Holiday Greetings! We are finding ourselves competing for sweaters and scarfs, mittens and hats as we attempt to stay warm in the frozen northland. All is good though. We are enjoying a wonderful visit with Mom and Dad, and we were able to take in some sledding with Joe's brother and family yesterday. Thought I'd post a quick update of the past week. Here is the fruit basket we prepared for our porteiros before leaving for the airport Christmas day. They were thrilled with the gift and dug in immediately. It feels so good to give!
Sierra adjusted to the colder air by wearing a warm hat and sweatshirt to the dinner table.
Joe and I found a new way to take in our morning coffee. Yes, those are snowflakes falling around us.
We decided to warm up in the hottub.
And cool off in the snowbank!! We jumped right back into the hot tub after this photo op! BRR!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Happy Holidays!!
Here's my 9 year old on Santa's lap (with her friend Luisa at her side). This is the real thing folks. NO synthetic beard, NO fake twinkle in this fella's eyes. And look how tall my baby is next to sitting Santa! Unbelievable.
However, remember this holiday season--HE is the reason for the season--no, not this wonderful mood brightening icon Santa who is great in his own way. Give thanks and praises to Jesus. Remember that every day is a gift, each relationship you have a blessing, and every moment an opportunity to live in His way. May the new year bring good health, calm spirits, and plenty of laughter to your days.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Sunrises and Sunsets
The life of a teacher is filled with beginnings and endings. Twice a year there's an end. Twice a year there's a beginning. It's an interesting perspective to live with. The psychological impact it has is interesting too. You can sense the approaching "end" in the air. The upcoming start to something fills you with anticipation and glee. I don't think I would choose a different way of life though. It's stimulating. It keeps me on my toes. It helps me appreciate the moments one at a time. It makes the progression from one phase to another more apparent in my thinking. I like it. It's a good life.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Too many shoes?
Is it possible? What did Imelda Marcos do? I think I am outgrowing my shoe closet space. You would think with a stash of shoes this size I would not have a concern of what pair to wear--ever. Unfortunately, right now one of my biggest concerns is what I have for shoes in late Dec. and Jan. when I visit my parents in Minnesota where wearing flip flops or sandals isn't exactly comfortable this time of year. Hmmm, I guess that sounds like a great reason to HAVE to go shoe shopping! What do you think?
Sierra is taking after me quite nicely. She has begun building her own stash. This picture doesn't include all of her choices! In all honesty, ladies, shopping for earrings and shoes is one of the greatest things we can do, for shoes and earrings NEVER make your butt look big!
Stubborn Moth

This morning, while getting ready for school, I hear Sierra scream, "MOOOOOMMMM! Come here please." I entered her bathroom to find this lovely fellow inside her cabinet.Joe spent some time today trying to evict the visitor from our apartment, to no avail. He shooed it from the bathroom only for it to fly back into the house through Sierra's bedroom window. He chased it around a little more, managed to shoe it back outside only for it to fly back into the house through our bedroom window. He gave up. Obviously, this refugee moth requires respite and shelter. Who are we to kick it out? So, here it perches, on the ceiling in the hallway between Sierra's bathroom and bedroom. I think she's scoping Sierra's earrings and necklaces!

One of Sierra's favorite passtimes lately is to go to Youtube.com and find videos from High School Musical 2, Ashly Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, and countless other tween stars. One night, when she had earphones connected to the computer, she serenaded us with her wonderful singing! She even throws in a move or two now and again. I do love listening to her sing. Joe and I joked that we were graced with our very own Brazilian Idol in our apartment.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

A Saturday at the beach!
We had plans to spend the day on our friend Alvaro's boat near Angra and Ilha Grande--about 2 hours out of the city, but the rain has been coming and going, sometimes pretty forceful. It's just part of the season. So, at 6:30 a.m. Alvaro called the Marina only to receive a report involving fog and rain--not exactly conducive to boating. In turn, we slept in and brainstormed rainy day activities. Throughout the time of brainstorming the clouds broke up, and the sun was shining in the city. Plan B: Visit a beach in the city we haven't been to. The result: this adorable little beach between Sao Conrado and Barra, only 15 minutes drive from our house. It has a name, but I can't remember it.Here are Sierra and her friend Luisa as we arrived and scoped the beach below. There was a quaint little walk down the hill to get to the sand. Only a few people speckled the beach and several surfers bobbed in the water beyond the waves.
The girls posed for a second shot with the full ocean in the background, and a couple of motorcycles.
The decent to the beach was interrupted as Alvaro paused to notice 4 children in the water near some rocks. We all stopped, and Alvaro suddenly said, "I think those kids are in trouble." The current near the rocks creates a dangerous undertow, and the kids appeared to be stuck in the undertow. We watched for about 5 seconds before Alvaro started yelling to the surfers in the water and those ascending the rocks near us, "There are 4 children! They need help! They're in trouble." Soon, a surfer who had been heading up the hill handed me his car keys, asking for me to hold them for him. He proceeded to put on his fins and jump in the water with his board. There had been one of the 4 kids who had drifted from the other 3 and that poor little boy's body kept bobbing under the water more frequently! The lump in the pit of my stomach was huge as I watched the events unfold. In what seemed like hours, but was actually only a minute or two, the surfer who handed me his keys reached the bobbing boy and 3 other surfers from in the water reached the other 3 children and placed them on the surfboards to pull them to safety, away from the rocks, beyond the waves and back into shore. Praise God!
We all five watched the entire process of events with worry and fear and prayer. Once the kids were safe, we completed our descent to the beach, quietly. I returned the keys to the good semaritan surfer when he reached the beach, acting as though he had not done anything special. I wanted to hug him for his actions--but I refrained. Sierra and Luisa didn't really enter the water until we had been at the beach for at least an hour; I think they were a bit apprehensive--with reason.
The experience provided a great opportunity to discuss the dangers of the ocean. Alvaro grew up on the ocean, both surfing and boating. He has been the rescuer surfer more than once. He said he was ready to ask those surfers on the rock near us for their board if they hadn't moved when they did to rescue the kids. We concluded our conversation over lunch/dinner with the girls, explaining how important it is to always be cautious of the waves and the tides and where you are at all times. The ocean is majestic but its powers are greater than ours. We must respect its forces.

Monday, December 03, 2007

The holiday season...
You always know that Christmas is near in Rio when the Christmas Tree goes up in the Lagoa. The city assembles this enormous metal tree full of lights and holds an official tree lighting the first of December every year complete with fireworks. We can see the tree from our verandah for most of the holiday season.
You also know that Christmas is near in Rio when you hear Christmas carols blaring from the street. As soon as you peer out to find where it's coming from, you see the caravan of semi's lit with Christmas lights and advertising the holiday coke can.
For me, I always know that Christmas is near when an annual "Girl's Weekend in Buzios" is planned. This weekend was the third I have been on since moving to Rio. I guess that's more of a bi-annual thing then, huh?

Mara, Tati, and Suzanne posed for a nice shot at our favorite crepe restaurant, Chez Michou. (Suzanne's eyes are ALWAYS closed in pictures.)Tati taught us the proper way to drink a caipirinha. Plenty of water while drinking keeps the headaches away.And, we had a wonderful room with a fabulous veranda for our comfortable weekend of relaxation. Today was back to work, a nice tan, plenty of rest and ready to face the week.