too much to share

It's been over a month since my last post/update. I am very sorry for this delay but life has been HAPPENING!! I will do my best to share it all but I have to use a reminder system, I went through my appointment calendar on my phone AND my photo album and it gave me a much needed memory boost to be able to write this post.

Carnaval in Pico

This photo is of the parade, this particular family dressed the grandmother as Little Red Riding Hood (not seen in the picture) and one of the grand children as Granny and one of the children as the Big Bad Wolf. It was adorable. I missed out on some of the costumes because I was glued to my cell phone on an expensive long distance call to my canadian bank because I had been locked out of my banking app and the recovery phone number was still set to my U.S. cell number which no longer exists. (FYI the banking issue was resolved the other day - took me three more calls, a visit to a U.S branch and a few bothersome messages to an old high school friend 😅).

We did go to a festa (party) on the Saturday night of Carnaval but we did not dress up. I took a picture of my fave couple though, see below.

Valentines Day or better known in Portugal as Dia dos Namorados - We went out for dinner at our new fave restaurant Aco (there is an accent on the 'c' but my keyboard is American and I can't easily find how to do that). This place has THE BEST chicken wings lol. They have a great burger too.

February 15th was our appointment to pick up our medical assessments to transfer our drivers licenses from Canada to Portugal. Unfortunately, the computer program they were using was not functioning properly so the document would not print. We were told we would get a phone call when it was ready.

February 16th was Zeus' next Vet visit, we had sent away his blood work from January to see what might be happening with him since he was clearly uncomfortable, always licking his paws especially after being outside and he was wheezing a lot. In December, the doctor had given him a broad spectrum allergy medication but it didn't seem to help and if he was REALLY bad in the evenings, we would give him adult allergy medicine to help him relax. The information shared during the Feb visit was that a normal result on the allergy test was between 140 to 160 and Zeus was reading just over 3000 😲 The treatment is expensive but with any luck, after the first round (which is a series of injections spread over an 8 month period) he may develop some immunity. We ordered it right away and were told it would take a few weeks to get to the island.

February 20th was a big day for me, I had been planning a surprise trip to Myrtle Beach for weeks!! Finally, I would be boarding the first of 3 planes, total of two days travelling over 3600 miles (one-way) to get to see my nephew in his lead role of his high school musical. One of my stops on the trip was to Terceira and luckily I had some friends on the island that just so happened to be visiting there from Canada. They graciously picked me up, treated me to lunch and showed me a around a little bit before my next flight.

When I got to Myrtle Beach, it was soooo hard to stay under the radar. I had to sneak around town to get my pay-as-you-go cell phone card and lay low until the first public show of SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical. My plan all along was to watch the play, wait till the very end when the cast comes out to meet and greet and then surprise Ethan. I even wore contacts and straightened my hair so IF he caught a glimpse of me, he wouldn't think twice. Here is the beautiful reveal captured by my good friends Taylor and Edie:

Here are some still shots and a clip or two of Ethan's performance. I am amazed at this young man's talent and I am so excited to see what comes of his future as he chooses a college with a Musical Theatre program 😍

I saw the show a total of 5 times with a number of friends and each time was better than the last. I cried during the last performance (no surprise), it was just as magical (if not, more) than the Little Mermaid show from 2023. I downloaded the Broadway Musical Soundtrack and listen to it on shuffle with all my other Musical favourites 🥰.

This☝️is a photo of the most expensive duffle bag I have purchased in my life.

While visiting Myrtle I wanted to go to Costco and buy up some stuff in bulk and bring it back to the island. I had a refund check from my previous membership and figured it wouldn't be a problem, I'd buy whatever I wanted, grab an extra piece of luggage from Wal-Mart and cart everything back minus the boxes, plastic wrapping and packaging. I had read online the max weight of the baggage and I felt really good about the carry-on, my backpack and my large suitcase. With the help of Ricky and Gloria, the night before my flight home, we worked some serious magic and the large suitcase came in under 100lbs which was the limit. That is, the limit on ONE of the airlines😵‍💫. I flew Spirit from Myrtle Beach to Boston (a flight that was delayed by 3.5 hours) and SATA was the airline that would take me from Boston to the Azores. WELL, at the ticket counter they told me I was allowed up to 145lbs of weight BUT the maximum per piece was 70lbs. Have you ever seen those people that are set off to the side of the ticket counter trying to rearrange clothes and shoes, frantically carrying odd items in their hands with zippers open on purses and wearing three sweaters at once? There is no judgement from me for those poor souls as I have now been a victim of this occurrence. After packing and repacking 3 times, offering free Kirkland's Popcorn to the strange man watching me, with only 40 minutes left to get to my gate, I finally managed to get my baggage within 2lbs of their limit per piece. As soon as I got through security, I went straight to an open shop and bought the $155 duffle bag seen in this photo. Had I not purchased the bag I would have been walking around with multiple clear ziploc bags holding an obscene amount of Milk Bones, Tampax Super Absorbency Tampons, Q-Tips and Bounce Dryer Sheets in addition to the backpack and carry-on that were already busting at the seams. Good news was my backpack and all the ziploc bags fit into this duffle bag, I even managed to get Kevin a bottle of Longbranch at the airport duty free 😁.

Remember that time we almost bought a mobile home? This idea lasted all of 7 days.

We had been told that the licensing and architecture and permit requirements did not apply if the home has wheels. This was going to be a temporary solution to get us our own space while we complete construction on the other properties. We already had the water and electrical hook-ups so it seemed like the best option plus we could always rent it out as well in the future. I went to city hall to change the land from Rustic to Urban which was the only thing I needed in order to finalize the purchase/transport and I was told that the rules have changed. If the home with wheels is attached to the water and electric then it is under the city ordnance requiring a permit and architecture plans (a process that takes roughly 4-6 months). Our temporary solution went to shit real quick.

February 29th was our appointment with our new family doctor and our first medical which included an ECG, bloodwork and urine. We get our results on April 4th. Kevin almost passed out with the bloodwork. He was told not to look at the needle in his arm if he felt uneasy so he turned his head towards the multiple vials of other people's blood that were swirling around on a platform that looked like a mini hot-dog warmer (like the ones you see at the movie theatre or the fair). His face went pink, then white and then an ashy grey before he told the nurse in english 'you have 5 seconds before I pass out'. She didn't speak much english but she hurried as much as possible. Kevin had to sit there for at least 10 minutes, regaining his strength and trying not to look at anything other than his own feet. The nurse asked him if he could sit in a different chair since he was taking up the proper 'blood' chair with the pillowed armrest. Kev looked at the regular folding chair that was two feet across from him and he said, 'nope'. So the nurse continued to taking patients in the folding chair, laying their arms on a towel on the counter nearby. This event was quite comical but I do feel bad for my husband. He can handle a whole lot of pain but the blood thing is truly his Achilles heel. He told me when we left the appointment that he will never do that again, if anyone needs his blood they will need to get it from him when he's already passed out 😅.

The first few weeks of March are a blur... everynight after 5pm and on weekends (including Sunday) we worked at the property that will be receiving the two tiny houses. The septic tank was handmade by my Tio with the help of one other worker and Kevin. I was there but other than carrying over the wheelbarrow with cement or loading/unloading cement blocks, I was not much help. Here are a few pics:

We have been joining in on a few community activities as well. The local Philharmonic celebrated their 144th anniversary so we went to their celebration which included a mini-concert and some great finger foods. We signed up to be sponsors/volunteers and Kevin was cornered to show up to one of their practice nights since he is a drummer. We were invited to the Sao Roque Motorcycle Club's 15th Anniversary Karaoke night lol it was nothing like we had expected. Folk dancing and average age group of 55, it was a bonafide motorcycle club that just enjoys riding and gathering to socialize; zero SOA vibes😂. I was invited to play Squash or Racquetball with a group of ladies but the weather rained us out and last night we checked out the local hangout spot called Santo Rock Bar. Kevin and I were ready to go home by 10:15pm but Tia (age 75) and Tio wanted to see the band - we all compromised and left at 11pm. Kev and I are clearly the wet blankets when it comes to nightlife LOL. We will have to work on that.

I have started Laser Hair removal treatments. I just finished my second session on my face. I can't say for sure if it is working yet. I was completely horrified when the lady sat me down and started shaving my sideburns with a dry disposable razor. My jaw dropped in shock and she said, 'oh! did you not want to get rid of that hair?' I said sure I do but I had never once touched those hairs, you just shaved the hair I've had since birth 😂. I feel like a whole new woman, less beard, less mustache and a very elegant jawline; if I do say so myself. I had to take a picture of the specific cream she asked me to buy. Something to treat burns and she was very strict in telling me not to go out in the sun without sunscreen due to the sensitivity of the area that had been treated. This is the cream:

Last but not least, I took Zeus for an extra long walk yesterday. We walked from Tia's house to Kevin's work. When we got there Zeus was so happy for the break that I didn't have the heart to take him back with me so I decided to walk home on my own. Everyone knows everyone here so I took a different route on the way back to avoid the questioning looks of 'what happened to her dog?'

Here was my route - 3.5kms with Zeus - then roughly 4kms on my own.

I think I've covered everything. The tiny homes are due to arrive before the end of April and we are working on getting that property ready to built. Lots of little things to figure out still and we are looking forward to the spring weather. More to share in the coming weeks - Happy Sunday to you and yours 💗