The Final Countdown
We’re about to move into our new place!
Hi family and friends,
It’s been a minute, I know… We’ve had a LOT going on. Between the chaos of the final details of our remodel and having friends visit for a week, we’ve been busy. There will be a lot more bullet points than usual this week as I catch you up on:
The final build-out
Fake-summer shenanigans
Quick Hits
Let’s get to it!
The final build-out
Our official move-in date is April 8th, and the last few weeks have kept us insanely busy with all the last-minute tasks and finishing details.
First, the refrigerator delivery. As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, we bought a huge American-sized fridge and designed custom cabinets to fit around it. The problem? The store we bought it from wouldn’t deliver it to our floor because of one too-narrow, too-short corner on our stairwell.
We hired a local moving company to do the job, and on March 6th, they made the delivery. Four guys hauled it up the first 3 flights by hand. Then they strapped it up and used our contractor’s winch to get it past the problem corner.
This was sketchy - the winch was straining, our huge fridge was dangling, and nobody seemed certain it would make it. Our contractor and Hilary had to go hide in the apartment - they couldn’t deal with the anxiety.
The winch held, and once the fridge was just high enough, they could swing one end up over the lower banister. At this point, I had to put down the phone I was filming with to lend a hand and drag the fridge up over the last rail.
They had to unbox it to get it through our door. It baaaaaaarely fit. But the fridge is in!
Other details?
Hilary spent a couple of hours going over everything with a fine-toothed comb to create a punch list. At times like this, I’m grateful for her OCD, as she was able to give our contractor a comprehensive list of areas that needed attention.
We delivered our TV’s from the current apartment to the new one (the ones we bought on Black Friday sales last year) and the builder helped us hang them on the walls.
We started our patio refresh, which included fixing some issues with the stucco, a new paint job, and awnings, which have already been installed.
Lots of meetings with the builder to go over final details - Is this good? Does that work? Etc.
Fake-summer shenanigans
Last week we hosted friends from the States - Malia and Burt and their 11-year-old twin boys, Miles & Everett. They brought unseasonably warm weather with them to Porto. It couldn’t have been better timing. Not only was it an excuse to play tourist in our hometown, but we got to do it in t-shirt and shorts weather!
Highlights of the visit:
A self-guided tour of the medieval quarter of Porto. It’s old but it never gets old, if you know what I mean. A good reminder that we should never take our town for granted.
A day trip to Guimarães to check out the 11th-century castle and see a Portugal vs. Sweden friendly soccer match. Sadly, Ronaldo didn’t play, but there were 7 goals, which kept things exciting.
A walk along the shoreline from Foz to Matosinhos, followed by a swim in the Atlantic. Yup, it was warm and calm (not windy) enough to enjoy a romp in the ocean. Unheard of for March. Of course, we had to have a late lunch in the sun at our local beachside cafe with sangria to cap it off.
An overnight trip to Nazaré to see where the big waves happen, even though there were no big waves this trip. On the way down we stopped at Aveiro for lunch and a wander. On the way back we visited Igreja Matriz de Santa Maria de Válega, a beautiful, colorful tiled church out in the middle of nowhere. We also made a stop by Capela do Senhor da Pedra, one of my favorite little chapels on a rock over the surf.
(Almost) everyone got sick - some sort of 24-hour stomach bug. Starting with Miles, then moving to Everett, then taking me and Malia out on the last day of their visit. I guess that’s one way to slim down before summer!
The whole gang left on the 27th for a week in Madrid. Who’s visiting us next?
Quick Hits
Hilary is still volunteering every Monday at the kitty rescue in Maia, and she has also started helping out at another local charity that does capture-spay/neuter-release. Here are some photos of the littles she is taking care of these days:
Hilary helped host an International Women’s Day event with a friend on March 9th. Aside from logistics and planning, she signed up to bring crudités and hummus and grab a case of wine from a distributor along the way. It was an incredibly stormy day, and I jumped in to help at the last minute. Ubers were impossible (rain + rush hour + Friday), so we split up and took transit - Hilary loaded with two IKEA bags full of appetizers, and me to get the wine. Story short, we got soaked to the bone, but we got it done. The event was a total hit, and we celebrated with dancing and karaoke afterward.
We’re deep into tax season, and juggling how to do taxes for two different countries. We have CPAs here and in the States working on each side of the equation, but it has been a ton of work on my end to sort out all the various business tax considerations for my freelance work. I’m sure I’ll share more detailed woes in an upcoming newsletter once it’s all done.
Two weeks ago I went for a long bike ride and popped one of my tubeless tires about 20km out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t carrying a patch kit. I was able to pump some air into my tire and limp my way from the coast up toward the airport, where, after hiking the final 3km (the tire wouldn’t hold any more air), I was able to catch a metro home.
Our neighborhood is trying to send us off in style. About 3 weeks ago they started MAJOR construction on a metro project right in front of our apartment. The heavy machinery fires up around 7:45 am, six days per week, without fail. Pounding, scraping, digging, dumping, jackhammering, and constant beeping, all about 30 feet from our bedroom window. Another reason we’re excited to move!
What have you been up to?
This week’s music is a new Neo Soul Grooves playlist that I think you might enjoy. Take a listen and tell me what you think: