Today is the first day of our 2012 spring and the weather has turned lovely, even though it snowed again overnight. Recently, we have had a slate of 70 degree days, followed by two or three of snow and blustery winds, followed by more warm days. Odd stuff this year.

I returned from my latest trip to Brazil (and third this year) on Friday and my honey and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on Saturday with a quiet day of just spending time together. We have now officially been a couple for half of his lifespan (and just less than half of mine). It is hard to imagine how time has gone by so fast and it seems to speed up even more year after year.

I look forward to many more years together and am very happy with the decisions in my life that have lead to this moment with this person.

And thunder here in São Paulo.

I arrived a few hours ago and was just woken up from a nice nap by thunder, accompanied by darkened skies and rain. I love this stuff, as long as I’m not flying in it.

I’ve made it as far as Houston, in spite of circling the airport for the better part of an hour due to thunderstorms and terrific rains. As we exited the plane, one flight attendant said, “It’s colder here in Houston than it was in Salt Lake”.

My flight to São Paulo departs in just under three hours and I am taking advantage of the layover to enjoy hot beverages, cheese and crackers and the power outlets of the United Club.

Hope my flight tonight does not suffer delays from the inclement weather. I hear thunder out there across the dark tarmac.

I arrived in São Paulo this morning after an uneventful but long (9-1/2 hour) flight from Houston.

My driver was there to pick me up when I exited Immigration, so that made the lengthy drive to the Renaissance Hotel downtown bearable. He talked the entire time and then thanked me for the “papo” (chatter) as he drove off. I didn’t have to say much more than agree with him about politics, road construction, governmental corruption, square kilometrage of Brasil compared to other countries, etc.

He was well-read (or more likely, well-televisioned).

Now I sit here at 6:00 p.m. and the sun has set. We are in deep winter, in spite of 70-degree temps and blue skies earlier today.

Tomorrow I fly down to Blumenau once again. My hopes are more realistic this time, I think. It took a few months to finally realize that 30 years of changes can be more than intellectually-challenging, they can shock one emotionally as well. I think I am ready to face this city in my history once again, but with reset expectations.

So I leave tomorrow for Brazil again. I’m planning on working from home today so I can do loads of laundry and other needed tasks between meetings, calls, etc. Quite the balancing act.

I checked the 10-day forecast and it looks like 70s-80s and sunny with a daily 10% chance of rain. Beautiful winter weather.

Conversely, Blumenau — where I will go on Friday and Saturday — shows solid rain on both days (and only those days).

I guess I can’t have everything.

It feels like summer has finally arrived. Last night was a toss-and-turn and kick-off-the-covers sort of night as it felt too warm to sleep comfortably — even with the windows open.

For the most part, it appears our weeks of daily rain is over and the temps are now forecasted to be in the 80s and 90s going forward. Back to the “high desert”.

The big family reunion is this weekend in Thermopolis, Wyoming. We look forward to this even every year as an opportunity to catch up with the extended family.

For those interested, here is the mockup of the t-shirt I designed for this year’s event: