I'm BAAAAA-AAAACK!!!!

But in a non-scary way, obviously.

What I've been doing in my absence:

1) Hating monopolies with a passion. You have no leverage. If they don't come and fix your internet after THREE WEEKS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, you can't threaten to quit their services. They know you have nowhere else to go.

2) Hanging out with my mom and sister. They left this past Monday after being here six weeks. - I'd almost forgotten how to wash dishes. They'd almost forgotten what "peace and quiet" meant. Lots of tears upon departure.

We did have lots of fun, though - we even went to that place in Serra Negra I wrote about earlier. Turns out they have all KINDS of sweet stuff that I didn't even know about. Paintball, four-wheeling, a rock-climbing wall, two ziplines, and a low ropes course. They even had one for kids - Little Prince did totally awesome. Didn't hesitate once. I love his expression here, even though I look like some crazed witch-woman. I can almost HEAR myself cackle.

We also spent way too much money buying artsy-fartsy stuff (that we NEEDED), eating out way too often (but I had to show them Brazilian cuisine!), played games (Scattergories and Uno, but also a little Settlers of Catan) - but mostly just visited. My mom and I also educated my 13-year-old sister in chick flicks, of which she was woefully ignorant. And she did her share of educating, as well. (I was so absorbed in High School Musical 2 that I left my breast pump sterilizing on the stove and it ended up plastic soup.)

Plus also we went to see Batman - the Joker was absolutely the scariest thing I've ever seen. I closed my eyes a lot.

3) Little Jellybean was blessed by his daddy - he has also more than doubled his birth weight, coos, smiles, and generally charms anyone within a twenty foot radius.
4) We tried to get some cute family pics at the temple. The only good one was the one that wasn't posed.
5) My Man had a birthday! And I promised not to tell that he turned thirty. I got him tickets to a professional Brazilian soccer game - it's this Wednesday. I expect him to be hoarse for at least a week afterwards.

6) Ouro Branco had a birthday too! Now that he's officially two, will the "terrible-twos" stop?

7) I now have 22 young women. We've been working our tails off for the upcoming stake theater presentation this upcoming Saturday. My goal is not to win any awards - it's not be embarrassed to death.

8) Exercising. I've lost a few, oh, ounces. I finally broke down and bought another pair of pants. Which brings my grand total to two pairs. But I will not buy more - I will. Lose. It. All. And wear the pile of pre-Jellybean clothes that I try on every few days just to SEE.

Quick rant. Why am I having such a hard time losing weight this time around? With Little Prince and Ouro Branco it just melted off. I was severely spoiled. All I ever did was breast-feed and yoga. Now, I breastfeed AND I run. I Pilate. I Baby Boot Camp exercise video. And the scale continues to laugh at me. Grr.

9) I read the last book in the Twilight series (and the first three again - you know, just to remember.) Yes, I'm a sucker for happy endings and guilty pleasures.

I also read 100 Questions First-time Home Buyers Should Ask. Awesome book. Now I can't wait to get started. (Next year! Next year!)

ALSO I read the original Phantom of the Opera. I absolutely adore the movie - I was raised on the music - and I'm also a sucker for old reads. It was pretty good - you'll only like it if you like the movie, though. It's obvious that Andrew Lloyd Webber was well-versed in the book. It explained some things I'd always wondered about in the movie, but frankly, I couldn't stand Christine. She was a total whiner.

10) Scrapbooking. My mommy brought me all kinds of fun stickers and papers and it is just WAY too much fun.

What have YOU guys been up to?