Twelve Years Ago...

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Tuesday
I hear that it has rained a little in Atlanta while we have been gone. I guess the drought is over there. Maybe the lake will finally get filled and people will be able to water their grass. But you need to know that we had rain too. It rained for about one hour on Monday afternoon. Then on Tuesday the day started out with a few clouds and stayed that way most of the day. It didn’t actually rain but it threatened to and that put a damper on our plans to spend the day at Minas Tenis. So, instead, we did what anyone would do, we went to the ‘maos and pes’ spa to have our fingernails and toenails manicured. This manicure only cost $25US for both of us!
Jackie had planned to have hers done the day before at Minas but their facility was closed on Monday. So, she talked me into joining her today. There’s a first time for everything so join her I did. I actually liked it and may now become an American ‘dandy’ by doing it more when we return to the USA.
After this we just stayed in the hotel for most of the day. I finished the weekend blog and then did some art work. For the evening, we had tickets to attend an International Flamenco Festival concert at the Teatro Isabella Hendrix at 8:00pm. We decided to start out with drinks in our hotel lobby by the piano bar. As usual for us, we purchased a CD from the pianist, a pretty brasileira for $15BRL or about $8US.
We wanted to get good seats for the concert so we arrived at 7:30. It turned out that we were among the first to arrive. In fact, we were given door prize tickets and our numbers were 15 and 16. The winning numbers drawn were all over 100 so it was clear to me that showing up late has its advantages.
We left the concert at the intermission and walked down to the Corner Bar to meet and have dinner with Maria and Gilberto and to celebrate the twelfth anniversary of the date that Maria and I began to work together-September 22, 1997.
A lot has happened over those years. At the time we had only one grandchild, Caroline. Now we have eight. I had eight years and two more job assignments after Brazil… Bahamas and Jamaica. Christi moved to Virginia and had two more children, Jennifer had three daughters, and Melissa got married and had two kids. We purchased a condo and I retired. We moved to Florida, then to Georgia. I bought a car and drove across Western Europe. Life is and has been good to us!
Tchau and Abracos

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Photos

Jackie is happy
Yes, she loves to have her fingernails and toenails manicured. Besides cuddling with me it is her favorite thing.

Tom learning how nice it is
Yes, I have given in to the pressure. There's no going back now that I've crossed the line. We do couples nails from now on.

Festival of Flamenco
They are having a cultural series of events related to Spain and France in Belo this month. This concert was one of them.

Guitarissimo
This photo is blurred but so was his actions. It was impossible to capture from where we sat with or without a flash.

Guitarissimo
Another try. He was very good. I will try to upload a video that captures the action.

The Trio
The guy on the left was the singer and the lady on the right the dancer. But here they are the clappers!

Comments

[sister patty]

My brother the "Dandy"
I believe you would be considered a Metrosexual dude now. TD. All I can say is, "What a life...what great fun you must be having"... I'm looking forward to the new art work you're working on. auf weidersehen...or das vidanya...or ciao... or later gator!!! xox patty

[Dianne]

Manicure/Pedicure Day in Brazil
Boy howdy, you guys are living the life!! And why not, eh? When you look back at all the long, hard hours you put in and the stress you had, you earned this and it's nice to be able to enjoy it with you! Mother would be proud since she use to tell you to clean your nails all the time... they were pretty grimmy back in the old days when you were swinging on the old rope over the creek in the back yard. It FINALLY stopped raining in Atlanta and the sun is shining so you can come home any time you want now!