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Patchwork
Michelle and I often play cooperative two player games, for example I’m sure we’ve mentioned playing Gloomhaven. I won’t put words in Michelle’s mouth but I think it is safe for me to say that she doesn’t love games with excessive direct conflict between players. I bought Patchwork thinking it would be a good fit
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Torn ACL! Now What?
I had struggled with left knee instability for about 2 years. I was unable to run, jump or twist and dancing was right out. Lateral movements were limited and getting in and out of cars was challenging. If I stepped wrong or slipped on leaves or a slick spot on the ground, I would almost
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Timespinner
Sometimes I have a bad habit of starting games and then getting distracted and setting them aside halfway through or just before the finale. This year I hope to clear out some of that backlog of unfinished video games. As I complete them I’ll write up a quick review for those of you who might
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Navigating Healthcare Abroad
Access to quality healthcare that is also affordable was an extremely important factor when we started considering early retirement and a move abroad. Our 911 occupations in Oregon provided us with a “Cadillac Health Plan” and our employer paid the lion’s share of the expenses. We had become exceedingly spoiled, especially since we were double
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Holiday Celebrations
Andrew kicked off our preparations by lugging all of our holiday bins in from our still quite full garage. We planned to pull out all the stops and REALLY decorate this year. When seasonally bedazzling our home in Oregon, everything had its place, but we had to start from scratch here in Urgezes, having only
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2024 Holiday Films And Shows
We took a break from blogging for a few hectic weeks around Christmas and New Year’s, but are back to share how we spent some of our holiday season. Regular readers may remember that December is my month to dominate the watchlist with romantic comedies and other holiday schlock, helping me recover from Michelle’s horror
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Our First Thanksgiving In The North
It was our third Thanksgiving in Portugal, but the first in our very own house. Experiencing a very American tradition is a bit of an odd thing when living in a different country, not to mention that some expats’ relationship to holidays and their homeland can be a bit complicated. Some are homesick and missing
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Andrew’s Belated Birthday
With our move to Urgezes impending and our focus on packing and preparing we decided to put off my birthday celebration until September. I must admit that we made a late night order with Uber Eats and had a boatload of sushi dropped off for an impromptu dinner. Portuguese restaurants don’t skimp and it was
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Urgezes House Tour
We had the very best of intentions. The plan was to film a post remodel house tour before the never-ending unpacking began. Andrew, myself, and the pets arrived after 9:00 pm on Wednesday August 28th and by 8:00 am Thursday August 29th our property started arriving. I am not a morning person on the best
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The Small(er) Trip
We wrote about the challenges and excitement of our move from Medford, Oregon to Olhão, Portugal in the summer of 2022. There was an international shipment of our property, an emergency passport pick up in Seattle, a FlixBus trip to Portland, car trips, airport shuttles, and long flights with 3 pets and 6 massive suitcases