I hope you'll like my photo post, it's taking forever to get it together and it kinda ruined our New Year's Eve... (my husband is pretty upset at me... Sigh).
I hope 2015 will be an even better year than we're anticipating! More thoughts about the New Year upcoming!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Looking Forward to 2015
2015 is a very promising year and the most important event is that in July-August we'll have an amazing family trip in three parts:
1) some days in Texas with joint celebration of the cousins' birthdays & the opportunity to get together with hundreds of friends during the "General Conference" of our church);
2) 20 day trip to the "Holy Land" with many family members;
3) 14 day trip in Europe with my parents.
K will also be submitting his tenure package and hopefully everything will be ok. He will also apply for a big NSF grant again -- his last opportunity to do so!
I will be applying for the 3 year position, but I'm not looking forward to that and I'm freaking out inside a little because if I don't get it, our family's income will be 36K less and I don't know what we're going to do! :-(
Our sons will finish 5th & 7th grades and start 6th & 8th and I know they are going to be busier.
Oh, and in December, K's whole family will get together again and we're planning to go skiing in New Hampshire and... I don't know... maybe go to Florida? (that will be a crazy thing to do!). We will also need to take another family photo, since the family is now complete with the arrival of the 8th grandson last July.
Frankly, I am almost looking forward the most to July 2016 when we're supposed to go to Brazil. I can't believe there's still a full year and a half to go before I can go back there! :-(
1) some days in Texas with joint celebration of the cousins' birthdays & the opportunity to get together with hundreds of friends during the "General Conference" of our church);
2) 20 day trip to the "Holy Land" with many family members;
3) 14 day trip in Europe with my parents.
K will also be submitting his tenure package and hopefully everything will be ok. He will also apply for a big NSF grant again -- his last opportunity to do so!
I will be applying for the 3 year position, but I'm not looking forward to that and I'm freaking out inside a little because if I don't get it, our family's income will be 36K less and I don't know what we're going to do! :-(
Our sons will finish 5th & 7th grades and start 6th & 8th and I know they are going to be busier.
Oh, and in December, K's whole family will get together again and we're planning to go skiing in New Hampshire and... I don't know... maybe go to Florida? (that will be a crazy thing to do!). We will also need to take another family photo, since the family is now complete with the arrival of the 8th grandson last July.
Frankly, I am almost looking forward the most to July 2016 when we're supposed to go to Brazil. I can't believe there's still a full year and a half to go before I can go back there! :-(
The 2014 Photo Post is Taking Forever!
And I'm worried that I still need to write 4 posts, to I have to write this "throwaway one" ;-)
I wanted to be playing games with my family, but here I am, pursuing this silly project. It's fun, though... looking through all the photos of the year and trying to pick the best each month.
Kelvin isn't playing with dad & younger brother either because he's fiddling with the computer, obviously!
OK, back to the photos!
Oh, and we were able to talk to our families in Brazil, my mom called and K's mom called on skype and we talked to her and to K4, the brother who will be missing our half-family reunion next week. K3 is in Texas and K2 is there in Brazil too, in the same amazing beach where we were last year.
I wanted to be playing games with my family, but here I am, pursuing this silly project. It's fun, though... looking through all the photos of the year and trying to pick the best each month.
Kelvin isn't playing with dad & younger brother either because he's fiddling with the computer, obviously!
OK, back to the photos!
Oh, and we were able to talk to our families in Brazil, my mom called and K's mom called on skype and we talked to her and to K4, the brother who will be missing our half-family reunion next week. K3 is in Texas and K2 is there in Brazil too, in the same amazing beach where we were last year.
2014 - Year in Review 4 - Highlights
- Spending New Year's in an amazing beach in Brazil with both our families (although New Year's Eve wasn't that great for me personally... sigh...).
- Trip to Florida to spend birthday with dear friend.
- Birth of last nephew & visit from them & K's parents, aunt & cousins
- Finally seeing the balloons in Montreal after last year's disappointment!! (neither of which I blogged!)
- Being able to carpool with a friend in my mega-commute a few times late this year.
- Seeing my friends and my cousins in FL in the past week.
2014 - Year in Review 3 - Lowlights
- Some moments on New Year's Eve in Brazil (I was really upset that K was busy playing a game -- Catan -- and didn't go to see the fireworks with me, in addition to some other situations).
- The disaster and shame of Brazil's loss in the World Cup. :-(
- Work contract nightmare for me in the Fall.
- K's grandmother getting sick and being hospitalized for weeks (until now) and how upset my FIL was/is.
- Holidays with no family.
Kelvin's Latest Obsession
I started this post weeks ago, but I'll finish now!!
Since I need to write three posts a day until Dec. 31st I asked my son Kelvin for advice and he said I should write a post about him, so there you go, iKelvin! ;-)
Just as I write this post (on 12/31) he's at work at his current obsession: he wants to build a computer. Since he doesn't have the 800 dollars he needs we convinced him to upgrade our current desktop and he has agreed (for now), so he's looking into that right now.
Kelvin lives for these obsessions of his, sometimes they are model trains, or getting an ipad, or buying a new game console, and for a few weeks he has a "one track mind" talking about it constantly.
The reason he wants to build a new computer is to be able to record his game playing and post it on YouTube (on the Wii since we don't have the WiiU yet, nor do we want him to buy it).
OK, I'll write more about that later. I still have six more posts to write!
Since I need to write three posts a day until Dec. 31st I asked my son Kelvin for advice and he said I should write a post about him, so there you go, iKelvin! ;-)
Just as I write this post (on 12/31) he's at work at his current obsession: he wants to build a computer. Since he doesn't have the 800 dollars he needs we convinced him to upgrade our current desktop and he has agreed (for now), so he's looking into that right now.
Kelvin lives for these obsessions of his, sometimes they are model trains, or getting an ipad, or buying a new game console, and for a few weeks he has a "one track mind" talking about it constantly.
The reason he wants to build a new computer is to be able to record his game playing and post it on YouTube (on the Wii since we don't have the WiiU yet, nor do we want him to buy it).
OK, I'll write more about that later. I still have six more posts to write!
20th Anniversary Celebration - Post 3 (the Spa)
Post 1, Post 2
The highlight of our anniversary celebration was spending several hours at the spa. We couldn't afford any treatments or massages, but we were able to use the saunas and other water & relaxation facilities for a day and that was pretty lovely!
The only downside was that the indoor facilities were for men and women, so we weren't together, so we did plan to spend a good 45 minutes reading (K read a book & I read "fancy" magazines, Vogue & Travel) and sipping tea in the co-ed lounge. Here are some photos of that lovely room I took on our last morning there:
We were sitting on these two chairs:
I hope we'll get to do this again in the future. The only other downside (in addition to being separated in the saunas) was that the "spa music"began to get on our nerves! ;-)
I think this will be the last anniversary post because I don't want to give much more identifying information!
The highlight of our anniversary celebration was spending several hours at the spa. We couldn't afford any treatments or massages, but we were able to use the saunas and other water & relaxation facilities for a day and that was pretty lovely!
The only downside was that the indoor facilities were for men and women, so we weren't together, so we did plan to spend a good 45 minutes reading (K read a book & I read "fancy" magazines, Vogue & Travel) and sipping tea in the co-ed lounge. Here are some photos of that lovely room I took on our last morning there:
I think this will be the last anniversary post because I don't want to give much more identifying information!
2014 Year in Review 2 - The Busiest Year Yet?
As this year ends K & I despair at the thought that there aren't enough minutes in the day to do all we need to do. :-( We truly don't know how we'll manage next year. K thinks that the only solution is to have a very strict schedule and "time budget" (and my therapist wholeheartedly agree). Let's see if we can manage to do that.
In addition, this was certainly the busiest year ever for our boys so far, particularly for Kelvin! In 6th grade he started playing in the bell choir and had practice two afternoons a week, but now in 7th grade he is also in robotics, so he spends 4 days a week in school from 8:15 am to 5 pm -- poor guy! Then on Mondays and Thursdays he has 1h30 of soccer practice after that (for 9-10 weeks in the Fall and late springs) and piano lessons on Wednesdays! His younger brother only lacks the two afternoons in bell choir because he's in another robotics team and also has soccer, but next year he'll probably be in the bell choir as well... sigh...
We were busy even in the summer (K always works summers doing research in the lab anyway) after I started the translation project and we were also busy with guests.
I did have a WAY BETTER Fall semester than the two previous years (when I was teaching at U#2 5 days a week) because I had Fridays off, but I was still horribly busy, especially because I had a "disaster class" at U#1 that stressed me out big time.
I hope 2015 won't be so horribly busy, but I doubt it!
In addition, this was certainly the busiest year ever for our boys so far, particularly for Kelvin! In 6th grade he started playing in the bell choir and had practice two afternoons a week, but now in 7th grade he is also in robotics, so he spends 4 days a week in school from 8:15 am to 5 pm -- poor guy! Then on Mondays and Thursdays he has 1h30 of soccer practice after that (for 9-10 weeks in the Fall and late springs) and piano lessons on Wednesdays! His younger brother only lacks the two afternoons in bell choir because he's in another robotics team and also has soccer, but next year he'll probably be in the bell choir as well... sigh...
We were busy even in the summer (K always works summers doing research in the lab anyway) after I started the translation project and we were also busy with guests.
I did have a WAY BETTER Fall semester than the two previous years (when I was teaching at U#2 5 days a week) because I had Fridays off, but I was still horribly busy, especially because I had a "disaster class" at U#1 that stressed me out big time.
I hope 2015 won't be so horribly busy, but I doubt it!
Slightly Depressed
New Year Eves were generally nostalgic days for me back when I was a tween/teen, then they became kind of Blah & OK, but today I'm slightly depressed.
This morning we found out about unexpected/unintended expenses from our trip and I kept feeling down because we came back from a quick trip to meet with friends & family to be all by ourselves in the cold after being in warm Florida. Then I found out my cousin felt sick after eating some food I cooked, so I'm not very happy right now. :-(
All is well, we have a nice cozy house and a happy family, but it's just kind of sad to be all by ourselves for a major holiday like this. Even if it's just an "arbitrary" kind of celebration, the end of an year and the beginning of another one. OK, more later. These posts are lame too & I feel bad, but I'm stubborn, so I'll carry on.
This morning we found out about unexpected/unintended expenses from our trip and I kept feeling down because we came back from a quick trip to meet with friends & family to be all by ourselves in the cold after being in warm Florida. Then I found out my cousin felt sick after eating some food I cooked, so I'm not very happy right now. :-(
All is well, we have a nice cozy house and a happy family, but it's just kind of sad to be all by ourselves for a major holiday like this. Even if it's just an "arbitrary" kind of celebration, the end of an year and the beginning of another one. OK, more later. These posts are lame too & I feel bad, but I'm stubborn, so I'll carry on.
2014 - Year in Review 1 - Firsts!
"Firsts" of 2014 (edited on Jan 3, 2015):
This year was my/our first...
... conference "blogger meet-up" with M!
... Thanksgiving without brother-in-law K3 & family in 11 years.
... series of major holidays all by ourselves: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve. (I'm kinda of sad/depressed about this one!).
... time doing therapy and being diagnosed with ADHD.
... time polishing my toenails bright colors (I still need to upload a photo of the coral ones, and in my year in photos there's one of the Brazilian flags & national colors -- scroll down to June). ;-)
... time away from Kelvin for almost a week when he went on his bell choir trip.
I'm sure there's more, but I have to go cook and will try to come edit later (last 2 items added on 1/3).
This year was my/our first...
... conference "blogger meet-up" with M!
... Thanksgiving without brother-in-law K3 & family in 11 years.
... series of major holidays all by ourselves: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve. (I'm kinda of sad/depressed about this one!).
... time doing therapy and being diagnosed with ADHD.
... time polishing my toenails bright colors (I still need to upload a photo of the coral ones, and in my year in photos there's one of the Brazilian flags & national colors -- scroll down to June). ;-)
... time away from Kelvin for almost a week when he went on his bell choir trip.
I'm sure there's more, but I have to go cook and will try to come edit later (last 2 items added on 1/3).
11 more posts to go till the end of the day!!
:-)
I really want to get to 214 posts, so I will keep blogging throughout the day, and in the last post I'll do a round-up of the good, more meaningful posts (not this one!) as a summary, 'cause I suppose people won't really read all of these posts... ;-)
I really want to get to 214 posts, so I will keep blogging throughout the day, and in the last post I'll do a round-up of the good, more meaningful posts (not this one!) as a summary, 'cause I suppose people won't really read all of these posts... ;-)
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
That was all the sea we got to see in FL :-(
We ALWAYS go to the beach when we come to Florida with our family.
We go any time of the year: August (2006), November (Thanksgiving Day 2010 - link later), December-January (2008, 2011), July (2014).
We go even if only for a few hours....
Even if only by parking the packed car by the sea and digging our swimsuits out of the suitcases as we did on Christmas Eve in 2011 before heading to our family's rental house in Orlando.
Back in July we got to go twice!
It's a treat that we really enjoy, since we live hundreds of miles from the ocean. However, this was a quick trip focused on spending time with loved ones we don't see very often and, in some cases, hadn't seen in years!
So this was all the ocean we got to see, from the 7th floor of a Daytona Beach resort. We didn't even get to step on the sand. :-(
Oh well... That's ok. People are more important than enjoying a beach!
Driving Back Home
I wish we could stay longer, but K wanted to go back home ASAP because we simply have way too much to do there.
In addition, I think we just stayed at the most expensive hotel we ever paid for -- 163 per night, for two nights (we have stayed at fancy places like the Hyatt in Cambridge, MA in the past, but it was paid by K's employer, or at expensive hotels for conference going). The Orlando area is extremely crowded right now, so prices are inflated, obviously.
Thankfully it was a great hotel -- one of the reasons why we decided to pay the steep rate -- everything else was really iffy and bad and not even that cheap (70, 90).
Sorry for the boring post! We have over 12 hours on the road ahead of us. I'll probably blog some on the way.
P.S. I went to bed at 3 am after talking to my cousin for nearly two hours. So worth it!
In addition, I think we just stayed at the most expensive hotel we ever paid for -- 163 per night, for two nights (we have stayed at fancy places like the Hyatt in Cambridge, MA in the past, but it was paid by K's employer, or at expensive hotels for conference going). The Orlando area is extremely crowded right now, so prices are inflated, obviously.
Thankfully it was a great hotel -- one of the reasons why we decided to pay the steep rate -- everything else was really iffy and bad and not even that cheap (70, 90).
Sorry for the boring post! We have over 12 hours on the road ahead of us. I'll probably blog some on the way.
P.S. I went to bed at 3 am after talking to my cousin for nearly two hours. So worth it!
"We don't understand your jokes!"
Or Feeling Hurt by Being Expatriate Parents
It's very hard to be an expatriate person and even harder to have an expatriate, bi(or multi)-lingual family. Last night, that reality hit us full in the face when K & I were being goofy in our hotel and our youngest son (10) blurted out the very honest, but almost cruel:
"We don't understand your jokes!"
:-(
Of course there's a bit of a generation gap problem here and cultural differences related to age, but I know that especially in the case of the younger son, there is also a linguistic gap -- his Portuguese is not as good as that of his brother's.
I wish they could be more fluent, understand all the jokes, all the words, but I know that will always be an unattainable dream. OK, not radically so (because we expect that our sons will spend at least one year in Brazil going to school), but still... I think we experience more than the usual parent/child gap because of our choice to come live in another country. :-(
I feel that's not fair! :-(
Of course we laughed and laughed about it, and there's also the case that this particular son resisted much more being labeled as "Brazilian" and he has internalized English much more -- he was younger when he learned it. He's still a bit ambivalent about his double nationality and his identity as Brazilian and/or American. Sigh...
We just need to learn to deal with these things as they come along and handle them as best as we can!
It's very hard to be an expatriate person and even harder to have an expatriate, bi(or multi)-lingual family. Last night, that reality hit us full in the face when K & I were being goofy in our hotel and our youngest son (10) blurted out the very honest, but almost cruel:
"We don't understand your jokes!"
:-(
Of course there's a bit of a generation gap problem here and cultural differences related to age, but I know that especially in the case of the younger son, there is also a linguistic gap -- his Portuguese is not as good as that of his brother's.
I wish they could be more fluent, understand all the jokes, all the words, but I know that will always be an unattainable dream. OK, not radically so (because we expect that our sons will spend at least one year in Brazil going to school), but still... I think we experience more than the usual parent/child gap because of our choice to come live in another country. :-(
I feel that's not fair! :-(
Of course we laughed and laughed about it, and there's also the case that this particular son resisted much more being labeled as "Brazilian" and he has internalized English much more -- he was younger when he learned it. He's still a bit ambivalent about his double nationality and his identity as Brazilian and/or American. Sigh...
We just need to learn to deal with these things as they come along and handle them as best as we can!
Every 10 Years, Christmas Eve "Alone" -- 1994, 2004, 2014
* Alone here means without extended family ;-)
(I hope to edit this post later to include some photos. It was supposed to have been posted on Christmas Day)
I have no idea what Christmas 2024 will bring, my sons will be 20 & 22 and I most certainly want to spend Christmas with them, I wonder about the rest of the family, though. Will my parents still be around and healthy? Will we be with my in-laws?
K was joking that we need to be by ourselves to follow tradition and that it should be a good thing.
"We'll be in Fiji," he joked, "you and I, wouldn't that be nice?"
"Well, we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary, but no, I don't want to spend Christmas away from our sons!"
And then the boys began to talk about how old they will be that year, etc.
I don't like to think that far into the future, it's kind of scary! But looking back is fascinating andlast night on Dec. 23rd K and I realized that ever since we became a couple, we've had Christmas "alone" precisely at 10 year intervals: in 1994 in a hotel room in our honeymoon; in 2004, our first Christmas as a family of four, by ourselves in a new city; and this year, alone again, just the four of us.
Needless to say, we're not used to that at all, but it felt very "right" and truly there was no place we'd rather be but home enjoying each other's company!
postcript
It helps that we traveled on the 25th and saw very dear friends and family for six very intense day! More on that hopefully soon.
(I hope to edit this post later to include some photos. It was supposed to have been posted on Christmas Day)
I have no idea what Christmas 2024 will bring, my sons will be 20 & 22 and I most certainly want to spend Christmas with them, I wonder about the rest of the family, though. Will my parents still be around and healthy? Will we be with my in-laws?
K was joking that we need to be by ourselves to follow tradition and that it should be a good thing.
"We'll be in Fiji," he joked, "you and I, wouldn't that be nice?"
"Well, we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary, but no, I don't want to spend Christmas away from our sons!"
And then the boys began to talk about how old they will be that year, etc.
I don't like to think that far into the future, it's kind of scary! But looking back is fascinating and
Needless to say, we're not used to that at all, but it felt very "right" and truly there was no place we'd rather be but home enjoying each other's company!
postcript
It helps that we traveled on the 25th and saw very dear friends and family for six very intense day! More on that hopefully soon.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Pain-full vs. Pain-less
Written on the middle of the night (3 am?) the night before our trip, 12/24
I'm still awake now not only because I needed to get a number of things done and know I can sleep in the car as we drive down to Florida tomorrow, but also because I've been dreading to go to bed every night because it's only at night that my back pain becomes unbearable.
This has been going on for a week and a half now and it's definitely not a good thing. I wish I had gone to a chiropractor, but I was traveling last week and we travel again tomorrow, so that's not going to happen!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had began to worry about my pain on Christmas Eve because I felt that some parts of my back felt "electric" at times (like the nerves weren't happy) and because from Saturday to Sunday I had spent the night with a hot pack on my back, my skin was also itchy and bothering me.
Fortunately, during the trip and the first two nights I felt hardly any pain, but I continued to sleep half sitting, leaning on piles of pillows. (and I did take a painkiller on the first night). Last night, however, was the very first night in which I decided to try to lie down on my side as I usually do to go to sleep instead of sitting up and... I didn't feel any pain! I think my back has mostly healed. YAY!
Now I need to become more proactive and dutifully do my lower back stretching exercises every day!
I'm still awake now not only because I needed to get a number of things done and know I can sleep in the car as we drive down to Florida tomorrow, but also because I've been dreading to go to bed every night because it's only at night that my back pain becomes unbearable.
This has been going on for a week and a half now and it's definitely not a good thing. I wish I had gone to a chiropractor, but I was traveling last week and we travel again tomorrow, so that's not going to happen!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I had began to worry about my pain on Christmas Eve because I felt that some parts of my back felt "electric" at times (like the nerves weren't happy) and because from Saturday to Sunday I had spent the night with a hot pack on my back, my skin was also itchy and bothering me.
Fortunately, during the trip and the first two nights I felt hardly any pain, but I continued to sleep half sitting, leaning on piles of pillows. (and I did take a painkiller on the first night). Last night, however, was the very first night in which I decided to try to lie down on my side as I usually do to go to sleep instead of sitting up and... I didn't feel any pain! I think my back has mostly healed. YAY!
Now I need to become more proactive and dutifully do my lower back stretching exercises every day!
Digging into the Drafts Folder
I don't think I'll be able to write 19 posts in four days, but I will sure try! So I will begin by digging into my drafts folder to see if there's anything I can "rescue" from there!
I'm tired, but comfy in a nice hotel near the Orlando airport. Unfortunately we can't stand staying in bad hotels anymore, we're getting used to comfort (very American style, right? Blah...). It was awesome to see my cousins and I think I will cook for them tomorrow because they're staying in an apartment!
OK, on to look into my drafts!
I'm tired, but comfy in a nice hotel near the Orlando airport. Unfortunately we can't stand staying in bad hotels anymore, we're getting used to comfort (very American style, right? Blah...). It was awesome to see my cousins and I think I will cook for them tomorrow because they're staying in an apartment!
OK, on to look into my drafts!
Wa Wa What?
We had no idea they had WaWa in Orlando, Florida! We thought it was a Pennsylvania thing and were really surprised to see one here in Osceola county, almost in Kissimmee.
What else will surprise us in this visit to this area were not overly fond of? ;-)
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Bokeh and Other Crazy Light Experiments with a Christmas Tree!
A few days ago I decided I was going to try to take some "bokeh" photos with the Xmas tree. I can't believe I've had the DSLR camera for nearly three years sand haven't set out to do that yet! :-(
In the end, I just played with the camera for a bit and took some random (no settings adjusted) bokeh like the ones that follow (I have no idea how my very first one came out b&w and pretty good):
This was taken by my husband:
He took over and not only figured out how to take some nice shots, but also had a lot of fun playing with the lights.This is the original view of the Christmas tree, surrounded by blue & white LED lights around the window.
And these are two of the bokeh versions:
And then he began to move the camera around with fascinating results!
The most intriguing thing is how the LED lights become dotted sometimes!
And soft and straight at other times (this is one of my absolute favorites!!):
Then dotted again:
Cool, huh?
He's the "real" photographer, I don't know anything, really. ;-)
In the end, I just played with the camera for a bit and took some random (no settings adjusted) bokeh like the ones that follow (I have no idea how my very first one came out b&w and pretty good):
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