Back Again

There is so much for me to write about, I don’t know where to start. I have been to visit my family in the US and I am back in Brazil. How do I sum everything up in an entry that’s just not tooooo long to read? Or do I do a whole bunch of entries, one for each thing? And for that reason I have put off writing. After a couple of false starts, I am going to try to take a stab at summing up my trip to the US. The LOVE sculpture sums it up the best. Lots of LOVE! 

  I spent most of the time at my mom’s house, visiting with her and my sister. I found them both well and we all enjoyed our  time visiting together. I did a little shopping (by my standards, not much!), worked on Mom’s computer some, cooked some, but mostly we all just enjoyed each other.

Mom generously loaned me her car and I was able to drive up to Jeri’s house and spend a weekend with her We had fun eating at a Brazilian restaurant, visiting the Indianapolis art museum, and running out the Speedway 500 track. Getting to be up close and personal with works of art of Van Gogh, Renoir, Rembrandt and O’Keefe was pretty exciting for me. My time there was shadowed by my niece’s health crisis. None of us are sure of what is going on with her, but it was very scarey. Although the neurologists have yet to discover what she is suffering from, and she appears to be getting a little better, we continue to be concerned and would covet your prayers for her. I could only make my return to Brazil with any peace trusting in God’s total sovereignty.

So return, I did, on schedule. On my return, I hand carried Elly’s wedding dress. What a responsibility. I tried never to let it out of my sight on the whole trip, since I had it in a carry-on bag. I was especially glad I had done that when my plane from Miami to Rio had an extreme baggage crisis. In Miami we sat at the gate for 3 hours while they hammered and clanged trying to shut the baggage compartment door. In Rio the inverse happened, as it wouldn’t open and we sat in the baggage claim with no food, water or air conditioning for two hours. I will tell you up front that it was TAM airlines and even if you save over $1,000 on the tickets (as I did), it isn’t worth it. I will never travel internationally with them. It was a horrible experience that I never wish to repeat. I would not recommend them to my worst enemy, so I wanted to get that word out.

The five hour delay, messed up our best laid plans, as João had a 10:45 flight out to Vitória where he was doing a wedding. I arrived as he was leaving. Meaning I had no way to get  home or keys to the house. But, he was able to call someone to pick me up, and Sissy came home to let me into the house.  

I was ever so glad to be home. Elly was also thrilled I was home with her dress. Although she has forbade me from sharing a picture of this dress, I couldn’t resist this one. What do you think of it? (hahahahaha) This is an inside view of the dress. Even the inside slip is beautiful. Okay, that’s all you get to see!

Gradually I am getting back into my routine. Even Mia is beginning to accept me again, which usually takes a couple of weeks to accomplish. I felt like I had been gone forever. I had been gone a long time, though, for look at how much my cactus has grown. On the left, is the cactus now and to the right is the cactus a few weeks ago. Incredible, isn’t it? So life goes on, always moving ahead. So, off I go moving ahead.