Yays and Boos

Yay!  My mate is finally coming home tonight after many, many days on TDY in Rio, Sao Paulo, and Recife.

Boo.  No more easy cereal/scrambled egg dinners and I'm back to only getting half the bed.

Yay!  The maid came today and cleaned my house from top to bottom.

Boo.  I spilled a can of tomato sauce on the kitchen floor as she was walking out the gate.

Yay!  Henry came through his orthodontic surgery with flying colors.

Boo.  They made me watch every single minute of it, and if I looked away, they called my attention back to his open gums.

Yay!  They only charged me $600R (about $350).

Boo.  He missed swimming lessons, a birthday party, and eating solid foods for three days.

Yay!  Jack got invited to go to Búzios and Rio for Carnival with the Dutch Ambassador's family.

Boo.  He refuses to wear a helmet the whole time he's out of my sight.

Yay!  I made my first Brazilian friend and my children were caught speaking portuguese with her grandchildren while we were at their house.

Boo.  I couldn't understand a word my own kids were saying.

Boo.  My car died while I was at the security checkpoint to get into the embassy. During the morning rush. With about eight cars behind me. While my husband was living it up on Ipanema beach. It turned out to be a loose battery connection (they have to open the engine and trunk, check under the car with mirrors, etc, so there's quite a bit of fussing-I think they knocked the connector loose).

Yay! I fixed it myself.  That's right, I totally fixed a car all by myself with a tool thingie and everything. 

Yay! The gardeners hacked down one of our banana trees in about ten seconds and we got this, which my little Frankenmouth child can even eat:

Boo. They lost the key to the shed and we can't get to the hula hoops. And since it doesn't get any sadder than that, I suppose I should go clean up that tomato sauce, as nobody seems to be coming to my rescue.  Wop Wooop.