The Big Table Swap

Hold onto your hats. If you can follow this information, your brain is working okay. Let me know if you don’t get it and than I’ll write more slowly. Elly received a table and chair set from her mother in law. When I saw it, I really liked the table a lot. It was an old door that had been made into a table. It was all beat up and looked really cool to me. Plus it weighed a ton. When I commented how much I liked it, Elly asked if I wanted it. I said sure, and left it at that. As it turns out, her mother in law had another table to give her and Elly was serious.  I, however, felt like my current chairs, kind of delicate and curvy would never go with the table and so let the idea die. She later told me, however, that she was also getting new chairs and I could have the chairs as well. They weren’t my favorite kind of chairs, but with some refinishing they would look good with the table. So the question remained, did I want to take the table?

I then asked João, thinking he wouldn’t agree, since the main issue was:  what would I do with my current table and chairs? They are a good set, but I have never been that crazy about the table, since it’s a glass top and I just don’t care that much for glass top tables. He asked our children’s pastor who is getting married next month if he would be interested. He was. So now, it looks like we have a three way swap happening. Elly goes to one side of town, and picks up the table and chairs from her mother in law. Then the mover takes her table and chairs and delivers them to me, where he picks up my table and chairs and delivers them to André. Got that?

Sounds cut and dried. Well it wasn’t. It seems the rather huge heavy table wouldn’t fit in the elevator and had to be hauled up 17 flights of steps. These were not professional movers either. There was the driver, a kid of about 13 and my son in law. They nearly died. I felt terrible. To make things worse, my current table also didn’t fit in the elevator either. (Our service elevators are just about useless. Our couches and refrigerator also had to be hauled up the steps). So the guys had to haul it down the steps. No one was real happy and I don’t think I got off to a good start with my “step” son-in-law. Fortunately all fit into the elevator at André’s building. 

Somewhere the chair cushions were lost and there are only two of them. I am hoping they find the others and I will have them redone to match my room. If not, I’ll just have all new ones made. In addition, I plan to redo the chairs in a distressed/rustic wood finish (the table is distressed, but naturally so!). Do you have a suggestion?  I am thinking of doing them white like the china cabinet, but I’ve also thought of something colorful for them as well (like the chest on the right). Nothing dark works with that dark red walls I have.

I am also wanting to get a large woven, round basket and fill it with ceramic balls as the centerpiece. The table is tall, so I want something low. Now I am enthused about framing my tulip paintings for the wall behind the table. I want to do it like a window frame, but I think I need to do a 4th painting for that to work out, so guess I had best get creative here. All ideas are welcome!

I Mean, Really?

 

As I was getting dressed in my workout clothes today, I was thinking about why it’s so hard for me to find workout clothes at the stores here in Rio. As you probably know, here in Brazil, and in Rio in particular, there is a virtual “worship” of the body. There are gyms on every other corner (no exaggeration, I pass at least 3 on my way to ByFit), vacation packages for plastic surgery, beauty shops galore, a new industry of cosmeticians, nail salons, waxing salons,  and so forth and so on. There is even a strict “code” of workout clothing that consists of skin tight lycra pants and matching bra-tops. Someone like me doesn’t fit into the mold of “body-beautiful.”  I am not young, skinny, tanned or even very fashion conscious.

Nevertheless, I want to workout and not stand out at the same time. I can understand

why some of my young friends who aren’t into the size 0, tanned blonde thing look, would shy away from the gym. It is very intimidating. Now that I am old enough to be the mother of all the instructors and I no longer have anything to prove, I have gulped down my pride and headed off to regular workouts. When I did aqua-fitness, it was not nearly as scary, since all the other students were older, unskinny, and somewhat “broken down” like I am.  Now that I am in the gym where folks are lifting over 100 pounds, running at 9 miles an hour and look like they stepped out of a magazine for physical fitness, I have whole new issues to deal with. The equipment itself is a little bit scary, as I saw a girl fall off one of the machines the other day, screaming for help as her legs hung up in the 60 pounds weights. She was okay in the end, but once in a while, I think of the injury I could sustain if I am not careful. I also have competitive issues. While I am huffing and puffing at 6K per hour, the gal beside me on the treadmill is off at 7 or 8 Km. So I want to push it up a notch, just to show I am not so decrepit and then I get a leg cramp. And there is the horrible music that is always playing, and the slasher movies on the TV’s to deal with, since the average age of those at the gym is about 21!

I mean, really, what AM I doing at this place that makes me so uncomfortable at so many levels? By the time I get there and warm up, do the exercises and come home and shower, I have lost a good 2 hours out of my day. Is it really worth all this sacrifice and pain. And yes, there is physical pain while I am pushing 20 lbs in the back of my legs or pulling down 35 lbs with my arms. Why am I doing this 5 days a week?

The obvious answer is that I want to get in shape. I want to feel better. I want to decrease my risk of heart disease. I want to have more energy. I want to build up my immunities. I want to sleep better I want to ward off osteoporosis. These are the benefits. I really do feel more energetic, have less body aches in the long run and actually feel like eating less and am finding that my clothes are looser. I feel better about myself. So despite all the strikes against someone of my size, age and disposition working out in a gym, here I am going every day. And glad I am!

Meeting with Friends

Have you ever been meaning to do something, I mean something fun and something good for you, but you just get too busy and it doesn’t happen?  It seems life gets in the way of living.

Since coming to Rio, we keep meaning to get together with other pastors to just kick back and talk and debrief. Although there are formal pastor’s meetings (and the wives are sometimes included), they don’t fit the bill. First of all, they are large groups and the meetings are formal.

So we see our pastor friends and we always say: “Let’s get together some time”. And we both mean it because we need and want that contact. It just doesn’t happen, however. Either our schedules don’t match up, or we just forget about it, or we are all busy.

Last week, however, one of our colleagues invited us over to his house for lunch, together with several other pastors and their wives. Ostensibly, it was to celebrate his birthday, but it was also close to João’s birthday as well.  There was birthday cake and all.

The lunch was lovely, but even better was the sense of community. Jokes only we understand. Singing all hymns and choruses. Sharing common problems that come with the pastorate. Just chewing the fat!

What was just to be a luncheon, turned out to be almost a whole day affair. 

So a big thanks to Laurindo e Loyde, who invited us (photo to the right) for time away that we badly needed with our peers. There has been a date set for another get together of this type in June. Here’s hoping it happens and we can actually attend. Here’s hoping I will take a little more initiative and invite other pastor’s over to our home. We need that. They need that. We all get by with a little help from our friends, right?

 

 

There is a Season for Everything

“Turn, turn, turn” is echoing

in my mind this morning. For those who don’t recall, this is a song by Pete Seeger, popularized by the Byrds, based on Ecclesiastes 3. I love Youtube because I can watch these old videos and recall the things from my past. The song is strange because it is taken directly from Scriptures and I never read this passage without hearing this haunting melody in my mind.

The reason it was on my mind is because last night João and I had supper had Elly at Bernardo’s apartment, to celebrate João’s birthday.

When we set up the “date” for Tuesday night (because they were travelling on his actual birthday), I didn’t realize that it would be at their house, not ours. I didn’t even think about, I just assumed it would be here. So when I did realize that, I felt an new “era” had been ushered in.

It was so neat, however, to see them all settled into their new apartment, full of everything all new and pretty. Seeing our little engineer preparing a fancy (and delicious) meal with everything all decorated and the two of them all comfy in their home, was such a nice feeling. And we certainly can’t forget their “big” 12 pound boy, Galileo. I always feel like Mia is a miniature cat after I am around him.  

So there you go, this is the season for them to be adults and begin their married life. It is also the season for us to continue to put down roots into our married life and invest in our relationship as well. For right now, we are at a similar place in our lives. I wonder when the balance will tip again?

Miguel Pereira

For quite some time João and I have been talking about taking a drive a couple hours south of Rio to visit a mountainous region of our state. Supposedly (and I don’t know according to whom), the region has the 3rd or 4th best climate in the world. Because of the altitude it stays cooler than Rio (which is illogically very hot, even hotter than some places much closer to the equator).

One of the members of João’s Sunday School class is a travelling salesman and knows that part of the state quite well, so he offered to go with us on our day off and show us around. We all agreed that we would make the trip this Friday.

We were up bright and early (well early anyway, as the sun wasn’t up yet and I certainly wasn’t bright at that time of day) and headed out. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Bright sun, blue sky and not too hot.

We took the scenic route, so we spent most of the day in the car. We certainly saw some beautiful scenery and got in lots of gabbing along the way.

The mountains, or to me rolling hills, looked a lot like a bed that had been messed up with lots of pillows and had a huge green fuzzy bedspread thrown over the top.

It was definitely a far cry from the hustling bustling big city of Rio. The cobblestone streets and slow pace was so nice, as was the quiet and fresh air. I really don’t think mankind was ever meant to live in our concrete jungles, since the advent of cities came after the fall of man and in every instance always led to more sin. The further we get from God’s creation, the further we move from the Creator.

The older we become, the more João and I think about retirement. We are looking for somewhere to live. The problem is here in Brazil that the rural parts of the country are very much  “underdeveloped”, with inadequate health care (which we will need as we grow older), schools, transportation. So we are looking for that utopia that offers a lovely climate, lots of green space, a slow pace of life AND some basics like health care, internet, etc. Do you think we’ll ever find it? Although we had a lovely day off on Friday, I don’t think Miguel Pereira is an alternative for us. I know God will show us just the right place at just the right time.

Finally and at last!

THE wedding of the year has come and gone and I have not written or posted anything of this event so long on the making.  Consequently, I have not written any other news as well. However, I know that almost everyone who reads my blog has also seen my photos and comments on ORKUT and/or FACEBOOK. In addition, it was a day so full of sentiments and emotions I have not wanted to write out everything. So I have made an executive decision to write just some comments and add some photos and then move on!

If you want to see some of the official photos of the wedding, you should visit the photographer’s site here. The photos are just gorgeous as was the wedding. No wedding is ever 100% perfect, of course, but Elly’s wedding was wonderful and beautiful. Basically everything went as it should! I have never    seen such a beautiful bride. She really did look like she stepped out of a magazine. It was also a totally new experience for me to have a hairdresser and makeup artist come to my house and “fix me up”. I felt like a movie star, myself. I felt so very honored and surprised that Elly asked me to walk in as her step-mother. I didn’t expect that, and it meant more than you can imagine! Throughout all of her planning, Elly always tried to think of others. I was glad she enjoyed her wedding so much, since she worked so hard to keep so many people happy.

Before, during and after, we were so flooded with emotions. I remembered so many things. I recalled the day we tried on wedding dresses. And the day I arrived with the dress from the US and Elly jumped up and down with joy. But reaching even further back, I remembered so many other events.

When Elly and Bernardo returned from their honeymoon in Bariloche, Argentina, we picked them up at the airport. And there they were… an “old” married couple. It’s hard to believe, that after so long thinking about the wedding, that it has already happened and they are now enjoying being newlyweds.

And so life returns so normal? Well, not exactly, for our family was still here at the house for a few more days and we enjoyed their company. As soon as they left, I had to get totally back to business finishing writing the VBS. I worked literally day and night for about 8 or 9 days and finally was able to turn in the whole shootin’ match by the first week of May. What a relief to be out from under that pressure. I am starting to feel like a real person again.

Back to the real world again, I have been investing in my workouts at the gym. Today I had an evaluation and I am doing well! I am now doing a whole new “routine” on new machines and all, so I figure I’ll be sore again for a while! I have had to buy all new workout clothes (makes me real sad) as my old ones were falling off of me. I have conceded to Brazilian fashion and am wearing skin tight pants (that’s all I can find) and somewhat less tight tops, although it’s hard to find anything to really fit my large size 14 frame, here in Brazil where skinny reigns(for example Elly bought a size 4 wedding dress and had to take it in dramatically for it to be small enough). 

Sunday past, was Mother’s Day and as you know not always the easiest day of the year for me. I did okay this year. First of all, I had the wonderful memory of being allowed to participate in Elly’s wedding. In the second place, Sissy bought me beautiful tulips that meant SO much more than you can imagine. In the third place, we had great worship services at church. In the morning, the children’s recorder choir played for us. That was so sweet.  In the evening, the new group in our church, “Friendly Hands”, performed for us. This group has learned Brazilian sign language to begin a ministry with the auditory challenged. We have already seen fruit, as one person in the group has been baptized. 

Now you are slightly caught up with me and having done that, now I am free to write more often, with shorter entries. I hope I am disciplined enough to do so.