Our first earthquake

Earthquake

Yes - we are in Portugal. Everything is just great. We arrived yesterday - to 18 C weather quite nice since we had minus 1 when we left Berlin on Sunday morning.
When we go to Portugal we mostly go to Lagos, where a good friend of ours owns a house and we always stay there - it is like a home away from home.
We have a little cupboard where we get to keep our things - so we have our own stuff as the house . We also have a number of cats to feed as long we are there. They live around the area and one cat in particular loves to move in with us while we are there. The owner of the house is OK with it - she is a big cat lover.
So this morning while we getting ready to go into town it hit us out of nowhere. The walls began to shake and everything wobbled. Our first earthquake. It must have lasted about twenty seconds and was quite scary. Reading the news now it was a large quake and was a 5.8 on the Richter Scale...
Otherwise it is great to relax and just enjoy our time here.
Smiles from Portugal.
T and J

Back on Track

My Dad was released from the hospital today and I think I will be able to fly to Portugal on Sunday - let's see what my doctor thinks.

My Mom isn't too thrilled actually to see my father home. He seems still fragile and now she thinks she is responsible for everything. On the other hand - he is finally back home again. I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet.

Look what has happened over night - snow! We have had like a couple of centimeters and everything is now covered in white - I am not going to leave the house today...

It was Jens' last day at work today - he will most certainly work later and then do a little shopping to reward himself - maybe a book to take along to Portugal. Tomorrow we will be able to sort through our wardrobe and see what we will need in Lagos for the next two weeks.

The power bill come in today - the highest ever, but that is due to the fact that we are paying now more than ever for electricity - well we will manage and our monthly prepayment was inched up to 50 Euro a month.

Next post will be from the Internet Cafe in Portugal.

T

Things that make you go "mhm"

I know it has been a while since the last post but we have been really busy. Well and to be honest this last week has been extra busy on me, Torsten.

My Dad was hospitalized last week Monday with respiratory problems and was diagnosed with pneumonia and was moved to Intensive Care on Tuesday morning. He turned 65 last year and we have to admit that he has been smoking all his adult life so something wrong with his lungs - well that should be like a given, right? Well when it hits you it hits you hard.My Mom has been a complete disaster ever since. She has been in tears, she was and still is angry and she just feels left alone. My parents will have been married 41 years this coming May so they are really close!

My Dad has been moved out of Intensive Care on Friday - mind you where he is now in the hospital isn’t really better, because now he is one of many sick people on ICU he was well taken care of. He was hooked to various drips and his heart was monitored by the second. I think he has had like received twenty gallons of liquid antibiotics through the drip plus tons of pills, so he is feeling much better, as it seems. The doctor on ICU however saw something wrong with his heart, it might be a condition due to fact that his bronchi and his lungs are not in order or that there really is something else wrong with his heart.

The doctors at the hospital could not really get a good diagnosis, or rather could not agree on if it is a full blown bronchitis or pneumonia - I know it both sounds bad and the bottom line of it all means that my Dad will not be able to smoke anymore. He already promised every one of the hospital staff that he won’t smoke anymore - now all we have to manage now is for my Mother to quit the habit. My Dad can be quite stern and good with his decisions; my mother however is a little bit less that type. She will have to gradually get rid of her addictive past time. Her doctor will try to help her and we will see if she manages to really get rid of it. I mean it would be so comfortable on their monthly budget as well as so good for the health.

While driving to work my Mon to the hospital then shopping for everyone and back home I was really stressed and thus now while everything seems to be almost over I am coming down with a nasty flu. I left work early on Friday and this weekend has been more or less a lay-down. I have been in bed most of the time. My throat is extremely swollen and the pain travels to my head and my ear, so it is really a joy - NOT! I guess tomorrow I will start with the coughing and the sneezing and will most probably go to the doctor to get my “yellow slip” so I can stay at home and cure myself - only because we want to go on holidays next Sunday. Two weeks in Portugal are in front of us - and I don’t want to be on an airplane with ear pain.

Anyway - that was my update for now - try to do better from now on…

Love

Toddy