Smooshing

Taking another day off (yes, already!~~~)....why not? Still have many days carried over that I need to use up -

I woke up at 4:30AM and went back to sleep. Woke up at 6:30AM and thought about getting up. Tried to go back to sleep. Couldn't. Rolled over and the next thing I knew, it was 9:10AM!! I did it! I actually slept in!!

So a hair appointment at 2PM seemed reason enough to just make a day of it - and then I was able to get in on a cancellation for my annual mammogram - so that's at 3!

I plan to treat myself to a Light Caramel Frappucino after the annual smooshing of the boobs is over.

In two weeks, the annual colonoscopy will be done - and we're adding a 'throat scope' to that as well for reflux damage diagnosis. That will be a fun day! (not).....

It will be good to have the annual stuff all done - and the every five year stuff done, too!!

Looking forward to a productive weekend around the homestead! Plenty to do - and I'm going to venture into the world of posting something on eBay for sale. Wish me luck! I'm a little nervous about it - it's hard letting go of stuff (even stuff you haven't used in decades) - but my french horn needs to be played. And I'm not playing it. And in retirement, I think the chances of me playing it are slim to none. So I'm going to try to sell it...and see what happens. Even if it's only a few hundred dollars, it's putting it in the hands of someone who might use it more than I - and it's out of our garage...

It's just hard to post it for sale - it makes me a little sad to let it go.....

I'm going to set a starting price and if it doesn't sell for that (or more), then I'm going to donate it to our district's music program.

Holey

H. will be arriving home any minute with a pierced lip. Actually just under his lip.

He's 18. He could have done it without my permission....but he knew I wasn't really keen on it. So he's been bringing the subject up periodically and through his exceedingly patient approach, I finally said 'ok'. What's another piercing?

He's promised to keep it 'studs only' - nothing garish....no rings or horns or anything more strange than having a stud through your lip.

He says the chicks really dig it.

I have no response for that.....the frequent hickeys on his neck are troubling enough.

Loving Harry

It is so sad to have the adventures be 'over'.....but oh, the end is just glorious. Stupendous! Brilliant! Stunning! It was so great - and I plan to see it again this weekend. I teared up a bit but held it together 'cuz the boys were with me. So I want to see it again and just let the waterworks go. Say goodbye to the adventure and to my kids' childhood. Say goodbye to watching Harry, Ron and Hermione grow up before our eyes. I need a good cry. I feel all 'stopped up' about it and I have to get that all 'out'.

It was magical and wondrous....and someday, I'm going to take two or three days and watch the DVD's all in a row from start to finish. With popcorn.

And I'm going to read all the books again - including #7 which I sort of just skimmed. It's time to enjoy the adventure from the written word, which I'm positive will be all the more amazing than the movies could ever be. I'm loving reading again and that's a really neat thing -

Shameless

This is Chloe. She's doing what she does best.....begging to have her belly rubbed. She will stay like this - seemingly mesmerized - for as long as it takes for one of us to take pity on her and rub her tummy.

I am Three

apparently. I have yet another ear infection....which I actually sought medical help for last week and just spared all of you the details. The dance performance we attended last Tuesday evening was loads of fun - but by the time we were at the theater, I was feeling pretty awful. A trip to the doctor the next day confirmed an ear infection. Which I knew 'cuz the earache kept me up most of last Tuesday (and several nights since).

This morning, I went back to the doctor for an injection of antibiotics and he threw in a B12 shot for good measure. I could barely walk up the stairs this morning to shower....

And any thought I had of taking off the remainder of the week were dashed when I received an email invite from my boss for a 10AM meeting on Wednesday. So there goes that idea. Oh well...I do love my job and my boss and (most of) my co-workers so getting back to the daily grind isn't too painful. Grateful to be employed and thankful it's something I enjoy doing. Working is such drudgery if you dislike what you're slaving away at - and thankfully, I've never had a job I didn't truly love.

Tomorrow, the boys and I are going to see HP7....I will bring Kleenex. It is sad to have this journey be over - the Harry Potter series is something my kids grew up with and sharing this journey with them has been such a joyful experience. It will be sad to see it come to an end....but I am looking forward to the availability of the series on e-books in October and think that might be my only Christmas wish - the entire series on my iPhone!

J. posted more pics of the beach vacation on his Facebook page - some of the underwater pics are amazing. While the color isn't great (never is with the cheap disposable underwater cameras), the pics of the boys 'in action' are terrific. H. is down 40 feet with just a snorkel! The kid's amazing!

Time to get dinner going - Asian chicken salad using up the leftover roasted chicken from last night. Off to cook for mi familia.

And since I'm (apparently) three, I'm also going to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie tomorrow - I will invite the boys though I doubt they will come. We can have lunch and then get back into the theater for the WP movie and make (practically) a day of it. We'll see...they might just humor their old mom and see a movie that will have me smiling from the inside out. I have saved every single VHS Winnie the Pooh tape we have (and pray they will still have VCRs) for my grand kids!! I refuse to part with them....they are a treasure!

One more fun-filled day with my boys and then back to work! I can do it!! (It must be the B12.....).

Two to Go

Attempting to wrap my head around having only two more days off. Rationalizing trying to be off the entire week. It might be 'do-able', if I bag a couple meetings in the later part of the week. But I should just bite the bullet and head back on Wednesday as scheduled, grateful it will be a short week of only three days. Our two new administrators start this week and it will be nice to have the 'team' together for a few days before the madness of 'it's time for the school's to open again' begins in earnest mid-August. It's also time to close the books and I have massive amounts of stuff to accomplish - heading into another phase of working weekends. All the more reason to go in three days this week....head start possible?

I'm gutting the study today - so at the moment, it looks torn to shreds. But we're cleaning out and culling like crazy. Two Palm III devices 'gutted' so whatever info was in them is irretrievable. Found 5 disposable cameras - 3 that need to be developed and two that have a few shots left. J. just took the underwater disposables to Costco - watch for the amazing underwater pics on his Facebook page. Pretty great shots of the kids....some will soon be framed and on the walls here and at work. I've filled the recycle bin twice and the shred bin is refilling - H. shredded massive amounts of stuff for me a couple days ago and now he gets to do it all again! He's so lucky!

I've got my swim suit on and am heading outside to do some 'chores' out in the backyard. One last attempt to get some color from the sun.....

Will skip a nap today (hard to do - I'll miss naps the most!) and get a nice Sunday dinner going - roasted chicken with roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli and from scratch Caesar salad! Including anchovies!

B. will be home from work soon - he's getting quite a few hours which is good. He made a big down payment on his car insurance to keep his monthly payments as low as possible. Even then, he has very little discretionary income - between car insurance and gas, gym membership and cell phone, he's pretty 'tapped out'. He's learning.....

Events

Awoke to an email from AmEx alerting us to fraudulent activity on J.'s card - appears his iTunes account was hacked and someone in Japan attempted to charge a bunch of stuff at a Japanese website....I do love AmEx SO MUCH - they are overnighting new cards to us and alerted us to the possible hacking by asking 'is this card used for iTunes'? A quick Google search confirmed a huge hacking incident resulting in credit card and address info being stolen - yikes!

The second shocking financial incident occurred when I retrieved several days of mail from our mailbox - the annual car insurance renewal arrived - and B.'s new insurance is FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS PER YEAR - just for him. Holy Crap! He's paying for it in full - $333 a month - which will put a dent in his discretionary income. Oh well. A couple years of no accidents will help....so here's hoping. It could have been worse - I fully expected him to be booted off our policy but thankfully, CSAA let him stay put. In a high risk pool, he'd probably pay close to that for six months of insurance - so it's good they kept him on our policy.

J. and I are heading into San Francisco for a ballet performance - dinner with (new) friends and then the show. Should be fun. We don't get out much so just getting ourselves gussied up and into the city is a big deal.

We've had B.'s friend R. here for a few days - and it's been a pleasure getting to know him. He is a good 'fit' here - blends right in and takes care of himself. He has a standing open invitation to return as often as he wants, whenever he wants - and I encouraged him to consider staying here long(er) term if he needs to. I don't think someone should make relationship decisions based on needing housing - he's a good kick in the ass for both boys and holds them accountable for a lot of things -

OK - got to go get gussied up. Tomorrow is my first 'no commitment' day of my 'staycation' and I can't wait!

Upgrade!

We spent the few hours we needed to kill at the neighbors who graciously agreed to let us store luggage at their condo. The mom invited us in and we chilled there for a few hours - watching TV and watching the HUGE storm that came in. Pouring, POURING rain, lightening, thunder, wind..it was wild!! We were so grateful to be cool and dry and have a place to spend a few hours. The boys went to town to get henna tattoos, which was unfortunate because the rain started during their tattoo application - so they both were smudged. Poor H. slipped and fell into about 12 inches of rain water that was flooding the intersection - he was soaked and dirty and our shuttle was arriving any minute. J. (who should win Father of the Year for his heroics) used our neighbors blow dryer to hand-dry H.'s new red Converse shoes (the only shoes he had to wear home) and we used their clothes dryer to dry his shirt. He pulled a pair of shorts out of the dirty laundry suitcase and wore those home.

We had a delicious lunch delivered to us by Aldi - who though soaking wet, seemed (as he always did) happy to be helpful and happy to have something to do. Not a lot of need for a cabana boy when it's pouring rain. It was a fun few hours and we were so grateful to M. and H. opening their home to us and spending their last full day hosting neighbors they barely knew.

The gate staff at the airport announced they had four first class seats available - so I tried to use miles. While I have plenty (tons) of miles, they were (apparently) not the kind I could use to upgrade (?). I asked how much to upgrade just using cash and it was $350. I said 'ok'....but then quickly said 'never mind - I'm ok'. I'd already upgraded to 'Economy Plus' (for $59) and was fine with that - and while I really wanted to fly first class (never done that on a longer flight and have only EVER done it once on a quick trip), I didn't want to spend the money.

When I boarded the flight and approached my seat - 7D - first row in Economy class, there was someone standing and blocking my seat. So I waited and he said 'are you seated here?' 'Yes'. 'We'd like to ask you to trade with us - would you take my wife's seat in first class so we can all sit together'? 'Um....yes, sure - thank you!'. SO I DID FLY HOME FIRST CLASS and it didn't cost me a dime.

And I know one thing now with certainty: it's not really worth it. It wasn't any more comfortable than in Economy Plus. Sure, there are fewer people vying for one bathroom and you don't have to walk very far to the bathroom. And yes, your meal is better - it's on plates with real silverware and it was good. But the seats weren't very comfortable - really....they aren't! And maybe it's the changes at United (since their merger with Continental) - but they just don't really make First Class an 'experience'. We got one drink service - and then she refilled water the entire time. She wasn't 'engaged' in making First Class an upgrade - so it really wasn't that great. And that's good for me to know 'cuz it sort of takes the 'mystique' out of it. Why pay extra just to have slightly better bathroom access and a meal on plates? Seriously - no point. So that's good for me to have experienced 'cuz I don't think I would pay more than double an economy ticket to fly First Class....

Maybe if we ever fly around the world or something.....like New Zealand or Asia or something? But not for a flight that's not a really, REALLY long haul.

We arrived in San Francisco 45 minutes early - and were home just after 10PM. Spent an hour making up with Klink who expressed his discontent with his loud, low 'whiny' cry. I brushed him and cuddled with him and he settled down - content his family is home. This morning, he's looking around for Chloe and we'll be picking her up at 3 (as soon as the kennel opens for Sunday pickups).

This morning is a trip to the grocery and unpacking. B. is having a houseguest for a couple days...so that will be interesting. I need to meal plan and get ready for 'company'. And - sadly - I have to go into work for an hour or so tomorrow morning. I plan to get up early and get it over with....and the good thing about it is: it is the last 'work' I will have to do until the 20th. There are only two signers in our district and I'm one of them - so I need to go in and sign things, review things that need reviewing, get things moving forward as much as I can and then I'm done....

We had a really great vacation and it was a lot of fun. We're all glad to be home....but already dreaming of our next trip to Mexico.

Adios, Playa

We awoke this morning to no power. Which also meant no water - the city water requires pumps and the pumps are electric. No backup, apparently. It went off around 5AMish (I just happened to be awake) and thankfully, came back on around 8. We're checked in to our flights and J. trekked to the internet cafe to print boarding pases so we're all set.

We're packing up - and then we get to kill three hours somewhere - have to be out of the condo by 11AM and our van to the airport doesn't pick us up until 2PM....bummer. And it's HOT here today - though I see a little cloud cover coming from the east which may help. We're dressed for scorching heat and the plane ride home will be an icebox.

It's been a lovely trip....

Hard to leave this magical place but we will return. We're thinking we could open a dive shop (H. is a fish - he dove down 40 feet while snorkeling - the kid's a natural!) and J. could open a laundry service. I can do just about anything and if we sell everything we own and rent a couple rooms in a hostel, we could manage for quite awhile....though I'm not sure a hostel is my 'style'.


We took all our leftovers - beer, sodas, ham, cheese, bread, etc. - to our Swedish neighbors who were grateful for the extras.

We'll have a nice meal somewhere and then try to find a place to sit with AC - Starbucks comes to mind - though it's a bit of a trek but we have plenty of time.

A neighboring condo - a mom and daughter from Scottsdale - are letting us store our luggage in their place so we don't have to go through town rolling huge bags everywhere. Very nice of them....

OK - time to sign off and put the laptop in the rolling backpack. Signing back on sometime tomorrow in Los Estados Unidos....

Storm!

WOW -

I am home alone....nice....miss the 'boys' but enjoying the quiet.

There is a HUGE storm....within the last 5 minutes, there is huge thunder! Wind!! The dive boats are coming in FAST. People are RUNNING to shelter.....

I'm worried about the family - out on a boat somewhere - hoping they are OK. The sea is very rough and it happened instantly - and it's POURING buckets of rain....

I had just decided to get dressed in 'presentable' clothes and was heading into town for something to eat and a little shopping....looks like I'll be hunkered down here for a bit.

What an amazing change - mother nature is in control and she just gave us all a reminder.....

UPDATE: As quickly as the downpour arrived, it left....still cloudy but not windy. The sea is calming down and the boats went back out. Saw a ferry coming from Cozumel but the boys aren't on it - so they must be still diving. I think I'll walk into town and find something to eat....

Souvenirs

We enjoyed a so-so dinner in town....a little disappointing but it was ok. Not great. They were a little too 'helpful' - offered tastes of wine and then tried to sell us a bottle. Brought an appetizer plate of queadillas, which we didn't order...but we ate them anyway....oh well. (One good things about two young men - nothing goes to waste). They tried to put sombreros on our heads and take pictures - we strongly declined. The guy said 'maybe tomorrow'....yeah, right. Not likely. They serve breakfast after 10 - which seems odd but might be perfect for Saturday. We have to vacate the condo by 11 and the shuttle to the airport won't pick us up until 2.
We'll have 3 hours to kill with nowhere to go - so maybe having a good, hearty breakfast out somewhere would pass the time - and get us through without lunch. We can buy airplane snacks on the trip home....

After dinner, the boys headed back to the condo and J. and I did a little shopping. Got all my souvenirs purchased so that's done. I might shop a bit alone tomorrow - J. and the boys are going snorkeling at Cozumel and will be gone most of the day. I'm fine with it...a nice quiet ending to our week here will suit me fine, I think.

We've watched the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part I a couple times so we're well prepared for the next release! H. and B. never made it to the theater to see it - so it's good they are catching up. I don't think we'll go the first week it's out - too crowded. But definitely the weekend after I go back to work.

Blah...just typing and thinking that makes me feel sick.....

It's still raining - so it makes the normal mugginess even more sticky. It is considerably cooler outside - but there are so many bugs and we're all eaten alive already...so we're staying 'in' with the AC on.

I've finished one book and am starting on another....enjoying discovering a new series of books about a female bounty hunter and the zany people she works with. There are a lot of books in the series so it's neat to feel excited about a lot of great reading ahead. And loving my iPhone - loads of books without any weight!! It's great!

It's approaching 10PM - bedtime. Boys need to get to bed early so they will be able to get up in time to catch the 8AM ferry to Cozumel for their dive.

Scattered

It's a rainy day here en la playa....so we've spent the morning playing Scattegories (more fun than you think it will be) and watching various movies. The rain isn't a pouring rain but is a steady drizzle. J. walked on the beach quite a ways (and I have to hand it to him - he's the most 'mobile' and motivated of the bunch!) and needed a towel to dry off.

The boys slept until noon-ish (typical) and awoke starving (also per usual). They are still bug-bitten, sunburned and somewhat cranky about things. I keep reminding B. that there will be plenty of bugs in the Navy so he might want to simmer down a bit on the 'indignant' approach he's taking to bugs biting him. As if the bugs should care....in his defense, while my bites are an allergic reaction gone nuclear, he has dozens and dozens of bites. I have a few - they are bad - but he is virtually covered in bites. So I do understand his issue....

H. has no bites but is a peeling, sunburned wreck. Cranky doesn't begin to describe his 'mood' on this fine day. This too, shall pass. I hope.

We will probably enjoy a nice dinner in town tonight and tomorrow - and will be giving away food at the pool on Saturday morning. Some we can/will pack up and take home - but some might be left for the cleaning crew and/or neighbors. There's always plenty of people here and I'm sure the food won't go to waste.

I need to shop a bit tomorrow for souvenirs, etc. We made our way to Starbucks for this year's version of the Playa del Carmen Starbucks mug. Love it though it's considerably smaller than the last version we got two years ago.

It's sort of nap time. I'm trying to resist but it's futile. A nap a day has become a part of the routine. Makes it easier to stay up late with the kids, keeping an eye on them and watching AXN (Action) TV. There's plenty of TV on for English speaking folks - and J. has taken to watching with his headphones on and using only the Spanish subtitles to follow the program. He's doing pretty well.

If we lived here, I'm sure we'd be speaking in no time - just from watching TV. And the commercials.

Owies

It wouldn't be a vacation without the injuries that come from sun and sea....and we're all wounded....

We are all covered with mosquito bites - and I'm highly, HIGHLY allergic to them....recalling last time, the same thing happened. My legs are covered in huge, HUGE patches of red, inflamed skin. It looks like some horrible skin condition - and they don't just itch....they HURT. I wake up in the mornings and can barely put weight on my legs....the skin feels like it's going to just explode. I know..TMI. But I'm trying to provide a description of what it's like. I've been reading all about 'Skeeter Syndrome' - it's real...and I have it, it seems. I'm sore and they won't subside - no amount of cortisone will help. And I now remember - where it does me absolutely no good to remember - that what finally helped last time we were here was Bendryl cream, which I wasn't able to find here. Still the same story. It was so bad that I bought the liquid Benadryl and swabbed it on the bite areas, hoping it would work. It didn't. My legs were just covered in sore, red, itchy, painful lesions AND sugary, sweet syrup which then attracted ants! Lovely!

H. and B. went SCUBA diving this morning - and H. encountered fire coral - stung his knee pretty badly. All that's left is a small, red welt - but at one point, B. said it looked like H. had a second knee - the area swelled up massively - and then calmed down. Poor H. also got a very bad sunburn on his first day here - it's now blistered and still sore. He tried to cover the area where his tanks would be with bandaids - and when he had to pull them off, it took a bunch of his skin with the bandaids. The poor kid spent the afternoon on the couch feeling 'miserable'. It hasn't helped him that the first night here, he left his red Converse high tops on the patio - forgetting that this is a ground floor unit - and they were stolen! They were the only shoes he's brought - so he's been borrowing pairs of J.'s for now.

J. just returned from la Pharmacia with the crema the dive master recommended for H.'s knee - and it works wonders on bites as well! So hopefully, we'll turn a corner on the bite front. B. is absolutely covered with them - dozens and dozens of bites. He doesn't get the massive, spreading welts I get - but he has a lot more bites than I do.

Still, we spent the late afternoon enjoying burgers, fries and cocktails on the chaises and enjoying watching the world go by. There are people from all over the world here and it's fun to watch people.

We're already planning our return - 10-14 days next time and the only thing making me hesitate on staying longer is the thought of poor Chloe being at the puppy spa too long....

H. and B. are heading into town for some night life. I let it go....they are both pretty responsible and stick together well when they're out and about. H. told me the first morning that they were offered any and all variety of illegal substances in town - and declined them all and got the heck out of the place pronto! H. is heading to the in-town Converse store to get a new pair - and these, he will carefully leave inside.

For all the injuries and owies (H. said 'Mom, I have a bad owie'....like he used to when he was 3), we're still managing to have a great time!

It's really dark in here - and I realized I still have my sun glasses on. Time to get cleaned up post-beach.

Pics

With a Malibu Rum and Coke nearby, I give you this pictorial essay:

View from the condo



Son #2 working on his tan

Son #1

Oh-oh-oh Mexico

(think James Taylor when you read the title).....

We are here.....it is lovely. The flight was long and the wait in lines for customs and to get clearance to leave the airport were also long...but we made it. Too tired to walk too far for dinner so we headed to Fusion - the club next to the condos. Had a decent dinner...not cheap but not too bad. Sadly, Club Bang closed - so there goes my Miami Vice's delivered to me poolside...or so I thought. H. just informed me that there is a guy who will bring anything you want right to you on the chaise lounges reserved for Luna Encantada 'residents'. Yeah!! We'll have to try that out this afternoon -

J. and I made it to MegaMart this morning for groceries. We're well stocked with snacks, breakfasts, lunches and assorted beverages. We even bought a 12 pack of Corona - much cheaper than individually at a bar!

We've had a swim and walked the town a bit. The boys were just getting up as we returned from the market - it's now 1PM but it feels earlier. Two hours later here than home.

Amused that some of my games on Facebook are partially in Spanish - and so is Blogger. The computer knows where we are.....

I have today and tomorrow to do 'nothing'. Tuesday we're planning a day trip of some kind - not sure where yet. Wednesday the boys are going SCUBA diving a couple times - and then they'll probably want to do that a couple more times the subsequent days. It's fine - I'm happy sitting by the pool, swimming, going to the ocean in front of the condo and just doing as little as humanly possible.

It's fun to be back....

I just did spellcheck - and it's apparently in Spanish. Every word of this post is a spelling error....so forgive me if there are actual errors....estamos a la playa!