Shattered Hopes and Dreams

I see that the current temperature in Burlington, Iowa is 14 degrees F (-10 C), but with the wind chill it feels like 0 (-17 C). Yesterday I was informed the windchill was -20F (-28C).

When I first moved to Iowa in 2006 to be closer to my darling boyfriend who is now my sweet hubby, I had dreams. Global warming was all the rage. I thought that maybe there was a possibility that one day Iowa might actually warm up enough to be considered a place fit for human habitation.

Now I hear of these ridiculously cold temperatures, people are sending me pictures from the blizzard, AND I read news reports of scientist fudging data to hide a global cooling trend.

Oh dear. Do I really have to leave Brasil? I want to talk to Al Gore please. I was really hoping Iowa would be a tropical paradise by now. You're disappointing me Al.

Meanwhile, Gabriela and I will be spending some time each day sitting in the freezer compartment of our refrigerator in an effort to prepare ourselves for winter in Iowa.

Oh wait . . . my freezer isn't even as cold as Iowa is right now. Fabulous.

My Daily Giggle Break

And this is why I love my job as Mommy. I may not gather 'round the water cooler and gab with coworkers anymore . . . but I do get to take frequent giggle breaks.

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Why I Am So Scarce These Days

Let's look at the current life of Emily, in numbers:

13: The number of days until the movers are supposed to be here

42: The number of times I stop Gabriela from eating her foam play mat

33: The number of unanswered emails sitting in my inbox (sorry, promise I still love y'all!)

40: The number of minutes I spend nursing Gabs each day

6: The number of non-working (weekend) days Eric has prior to our move

60: The number of minutes spent each day preparing food and feeding the kid

8: The usual time Eric has been getting home

23: The number of times I pull something not meant for human consumption out of my child's mouth

24: The number of days that have passed since vacation ended (and I still haven't posted about our travels!)

6: The number of times I take Gabriela to the potty

9: The time Eric is still receiving work phone calls at night (dang different time zones)

135: The number of items on my For-Sale-Before-I-Leave-Brasil list

6: The number of times someone in my building has dropped by while I'm still in my PJ's this week (admittedly, sometimes it was well after noon, but still . . . too much to do . . . getting dressed didn't make the cut for the day)

20: Number of Christmas/Birthday Gifts to buy (and that's only counting family)

5: Number of people who still haven't sent me their Christmas/Birthday list - you know who you are. ;)

6: Number of people in my building who are probably still talking about the crazy, sloppy, not-dressed American on the 5th floor

1: Number of heart attacks my husband is going to have when he gets the credit card bill next month. ;) (Ooooohhhh, so many great online sales!)

11: The very earliest Eric and I ever get to bed these days

375: The number of dollars y'all have donated (Thanks so much! Y'all are awesome!!! And we still have a couple weeks left before I make the big deposit!!!)

18: The number of days until we leave Brasil and move to the US

It's a bit of a mad house around here right now as we try to sort through things, get stuff sold (anyone looking to buy a great Fiat Punto at a good price?), make arrangements with the movers, prepare things in the US for our arrival, and, all the while, keep up with a teething 7-month old who has developed entirely too much mobility and recently really discovered her vocal cords (outside of nap time we rarely have a silent moment around here anymore.) I'm going to try to get our vacation pictures posted soon, but no promises.

Meanwhile know that we are here and well . . . just a little crazy at the moment.