News (all having to do with Connie)

It's been awhile since I bullet pointed the facets of our lives. Here are some random facts that might be interesting for people to know, and, somehow, they all are connected to Connie in some way.

• Connie just celebrated two months on the island, and her presence has been a perfect fit for our family. She helps me 30-40 hours a week, and has already been starting to do a lot of other work for people organizing and pet sitting. Between us and her other jobs, she is becoming one very busy lady! Not only does she help watch the kids for me whenever I need her and provide me with an extra set of eyes throughout the day, but she also is "in charge" of laundry and the kitchen. What an amazing blessing this is! I think most moms would agree that the two household tasks they have the hardest time keeping up on are laundry and dishes and so to have someone basically taking care of those aspects, is incredibly freeing. Connie is especially around to help me from lunch time until dinner time -- some of the longest hours in a stay-at-home-mom's day. 
• Some fix-it men recently spent two days removing the elevator from our house. I still have no idea why they took it off or if they are planning on putting it back. What I do know is that having construction men in your house six to eight hours a day while you are trying to get three kids to take naps has been a real pain. I can't go anywhere or do anything when they are here, I have to keep Scrubs from barking, and the kids, especially Abigail, are constantly getting woken up. After two full days of elevator removing, they asked me when they could return next week. As I was trying to find a time that would work, they reminded/informed me that they would need three more full days to complete the task! I was so proud of myself when I said, "I'm sorry. This just won't work for my family." Following my Aunt's suggestion, I instead said, "You are going to have to come when  we are out of town later in December." They acquiesced willingly and will now coordinate with Connie, who is house sitting while I am gone. I am so proud of myself for doing what is best for me during this time of my life -- instead of trying to please people, which is what I usually do.
• Some of you have expressed concern with Connie being alone over the holidays. This is something we knew was going to happen before she got here, and trust me, she will be far from alone. She already has a community of people in Porto Martins who know and love her, and with her other jobs, I have a feeling that the three weeks is going to go by way too fast on her end! While I know she will miss us, I definitely know she is looking forward to a little time to not have five extra people in the house. And Scrubs will be here with her. Not only are he and Connie extremely close (like ... very!), but Scrubs is a great guard dog. You definitely feel safer with his presence. When the elevator man showed up with a crowbar yesterday, he definitely made sure the guy know he better use that bar for the elevator and not on his people. 
• We are currently working on getting Connie an extension for her VISA. She is given 90 days in the country without question and without cost. However, after that, she has to apply to get a 90 day extension for her VISA. And after 180 days, no extension is permitted. She must leave the country to return, get another free VISA, and then request another VISA extension. In other words, she can stay in the country 180 days before having to leave and then can return and stay another 180 days. She is currently planning on being here one year (or 360 days). Our friend Luis, who is Portuguese and works in the office that handles VISA "stuff" is helping us complete this task. We are very hopeful that it will all come together successfully as her first 90 day VISA expires on December 24th. We are also still trying to figure out where we will send her at the 180 day mark. We thought we could just pop her over to Spain, but that's in the EU (European Union). It has to be somewhere out of the EU to get a new VISA. She'll have to not only leave the country but also the EU So most likely, we'll probably look to send her somewhere like London so she can get a mini vacation and see somewhere brand new while she is at it.

So that's an update .... Connie style.