week 38.

Sunday, September 16
Stayed up waaaaay too late tonight watching my newly-listed, hand-painted Portuguese pottery rack up views on eBay!  My kind American friend Elizabeth (who also married a Portuguese man and moved to Portugal 29 years ago) started out with the idea to sell Potuguese pottery to Americans when she lived in Coimbra quite a while ago, and now has passed along the opportunity to me!  The potter is dedicated to continuing the tradition of Coimbra's hand-painted pottery, and no two pieces are alike! (Shameless plug... lots of unique Christmas gifts available!). We are so blessed to have such kind friends and to have this amazing financial blessing! Here is a photo of one of my favorite pieces... a sugar bowl with a special spoon created specifically for it! You can see more pieces on my Ceramics Pinterest board.

Monday, September 17th
This girl had a birthday today, and we love her so, and really wish she wasn't so far away! We became dear friends as seat mates on spring break choir tour circa 2005, when we both discovered that not only did we bring more than one book for a 9 day tour, but that we both also brought electronic travel Yahtzee. (What I wouldn't give to have that photo in digital form for the photo of the day today!) Thankful for you, Em! Parabéns, Snug! Love you!

Tuesday, September 18th
I must admit that we have pretty great weather in Portugal, but unfortunately almost all the rain comes in winter, which leaves the grass and the forests really dry in summer, leading to lots of fires. I refrained from posting a photo of a fire really close to our house last week, because it just seemed so sad to use that as the photo of the day, with smoke so black and flames so tall we could see it from our balcony. Today there was another in Coimbra, and as we were leaving work we realized it was also really close to where we were. I refrained from the picture-taking, but as we got close to home at and stopped at a red light, I noticed that the grey smoke in the distance was so high that it was starting to merge with a cloud in the sky. A second glanced revealed that it wasn't a cloud at all, but some sort of rare reaction/formation of the smoke that was making the top of it billow up into a white cloud. It fascinated me, hence the use of it for today's photo...

Wednesday, September 19th
Sumoku -- fun game sent by the familial unit of Cheeseheads. It's like a crossword, but using numbers instead of letters. Lots of thinking involved. Not recommended to start a game after 10.00 pm, as evidenced by our very tired eyes. Fun, though!

Thursday, September 20th
While looking through lots of closets and drawers for something tonight, I happened to find a shoebox of Luis Miguel's, full of all the cards that I have ever sent him in the history of our story together. Needless to say, my search abruptly ended, and I sat down on the floor and read every one of the 87. It was a bit emotional reliving all the longing and heartache that a long-distance relationship brought, but there was redemption as well. In our one-year dating anniversary card I found this: "I never expected that one year could be so meaningful... so memorable... so remarkable. I never expected that a journey with far more days apart than days together could ever bring two people so close." I don't have enough words to say how thankful I am to be married to someone who invested so much to make sure our love could last, even across an ocean. Luis Miguel, you are my treasure!

Friday, September 21st
Got a sweet package from my grandma, with a note inside that said "open carefully". When I opened it, I found this, with a note that read:

"Don't get excited,
Don't get misled,
It's not what you think,
It's a dishcloth instead!

So take off the ribbons,
Cut the threads loose,
Get a pan of water,
and they're ready for use!"

Pretty adorable, eh?  :)

After calling to thank her, I found out that the reason that the note seems like an antique, what with the stained, yellowed cardstock and the seemingly type-written letters, was because it was actually an antique! She stopped by an estate sale and found this in its own little box, and she guesses it's from the 40's or 50's, but no one knew for sure. My mother and grandmother are the queens of finding unique things like this! So amazing!

Saturday, September 22nd
Did I actually put on a monkey suit and a mesh hat and let swarms of bees buzz around me within centimeters of my face, just to say that I did it?  Why yes, as a matter of fact I did. Did I have a small moment where I may have screamed and removed myself from the situation for a minute? Possibly. Would I do it again? Doubtful. But was it fun? Hecks yes. In a scary, nerve-wracking sort of way. Luis teammate, André, got into bee-keeping after his grandfather handed down his honeycombs, and now he keeps bees (if that can be used as a verb??) and took us with him this afternoon. Sometimes, when I think about it, my skin still gets all creepy crawly, but now I can say that I was bee-keeping once, right? :)