This, that, and the other

Okay, I'll admit it. The rainbow photo has nothing to do with anything I have to share, but yesterday it was a gloomy, stormy, chilly day and all of the sudden Joào called me and there was this gorgeous rainbow to be seen from our veranda. I grabbed the camera and ran. By the time I tried to get another shot, it had faded. But it was so clear and so big, I just couldn't resist sharing it with you. I don't think any of us ever grows out of our fascination with rainbows. When one appears, everyone comes running or stops what they are doing to look, like we've never seen one before. We have a wonderful hymn we sing here in Brazil, that says "behind every black cloud, a rainbow is hiding". Oh so true.

Life seems to be moving back into the "normal" range, readjusting to schedules after vacation. I am still going to bed late and getting up late, a habit I really need to break. This morning I had to get up early and consequently I've been groggy all day. It was the same story yesterday. Consequently my drawing class was not as productive as it might have been. We did a study for doing our own self-portrait. It was to be a 3/4 facial view, so I had to hold my head in place in order to keep it in the same position. It did not turn out all that great. Actually it's not a bad drawing. Just doesn't look like me, which was the purpose, after all. In the photo to the left you see Roberta, my classmate, and Gabi, our teacher. To the right are two other students (Marcia and Jane) in our class,with Gabi as well. As you can see, none of us are teen-agers, but I am by far the oldest (by 15-25 years) and least experienced "artist"of the group. We are going an exposition next Saturday. I will try to photograph it for you, as I think it will be a fun morning. This class has been wonderful for me, as it has not only opened my horizons for learned something new, I have made new friends. When I thought of who I might invite to our exposition, I could think of no one. I realized I really have no friends here in Rio. My life has been limited to the church and as pastor's wife, I get along with everyone, but no one is really a close friend, and it should be that way. I like the folks from my aqua class, but it's hard to really make friends when you jumping and out of breath, besides which I don't have a lot in common with them. Speaking of friends/acquaintances, I finally located the dentist I used here in Brazil before I went to Canada. She is one of the best I have ever been to and have been frustrated ever since with other denstists. Since I was dethroned during vacation (I swallowed my gold crown!), and wasn't satisfied with my dentist here, we finally found Josi and I have started back with my gum treatments. This is nothing I enjoy, trust me and I told her on Thursday I thought I would need a blood transfusion from the procedure, but it's such a relief to know I have stopped my bone loss. I had lost quite a bit of my bone and was running the risk of my teeth getting loose in my mouth. I still have 3/4 of the work to go and so I will have a swollen mouth for a while, but at least my teeth won't fall out of head.

So my life moves forward with one thing and another. I am translating the Baptist World Day of Prayer Program, working on some material for premarital counseling and involved in meetings for church, so I stay busy in my own little way. Sissy is on vacation in Campos, so the house is kind of quiet. Mia has finally accepted me back (sort of) after having transferred her allegiance to Sissy while I was on vacation. I am trying to train her to sit still so I can do her portrait (hahaha). To train me, I did my first cat portrait (from a photo) this week. What does it say about me that my portrait of a cat is 100% better than my self-portrait?