It's Raining, It's Pouring

And lightening and thundering, too!  I awoke in the middle of the night (Awoke!  as in I was actually sleeping!!  Yeah!) hearing strange noises.  Unfamiliar sounds.  I decided to get up and go to the bathroom and realized when my feet hit the carpet that it was coming from outside....and then a couple steps towards the bathroom, it hit me - it was raining!  I did a little happy dance between my bed and the bathroom and then snuggled back in bed and went right back to sleep.  Nothing like a rainy night to promote sound sleep.

The Benadryl I took also probably had something to do with it - but that's OK.  I plan to repeat again tonight in hopes of another good night's sleep.  I also added my inhaler to the mix which took away the tickle that makes me cough with every breath.

I made it until 1PM today which was pretty good considering at 8:30 this morning, I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it until 9...but I had things I had to do so I just kept doing them -

I'm still coughing a little but things are improving...but it's only 6:19PM, pitch black outside and I'm so ready for bed....so I think I'm heading upstairs pretty soon -

This week has daily meetings across the entire week along with board prep and starting on my report due to the Board in December.  It's going to be busy so I sure hope I start to feel better soon -

I read back this time last year and it also rained a fair amount in November - which gave us all hope for a good snow year...and that didn't happen.  Sure hope this year will be continuous snow and rain - one major year of snow won't really get us out of the drought but it might help.  I'm looking into ways to store the shower water we have everyday 'cuz Mother Nature is watering our plants at the moment. I know J. thinks I'm crazy - but if we could use a huge bin with a lid or a barrel of some kind, we could store water to have when the rain stops - whether that's in a week or six months.  I just hate to waste the water now that I see how much we have been wasting.

So many little changes we've made that I realize we could have and should have made 'standard practice' for our entire lives - it's amazing the amount of water wasted that we've never thought about.

It's time to head to bed....hoping for another decent night's sleep.

So True

The only difference is:  we just take all the Reese's out of the candy bags and don't give them out.

It was pretty quiet last night - things seemed to start much later (probably because it wasn't a school night) and wrapped up pretty quickly -

There's plenty of leftover candy to take to work - so it will be a busy but chocolate filled week.

I had another rough night but am going to get cleaned up and head out to Petsmart - I came downstairs and noticed Bowzer's bowl had a crack - with two ends approaching the meeting point (moving in a circular direction) - which would have been a disaster if I hadn't noticed.  We moved him into his temporary apartment (a clear Tupperware bowl) to give me time to get to the store.  He will be enjoying a significant upgrade to his digs today.

Always enjoy this Sunday with the extra hour - usually, I feel like we get so much more accomplished in the extra time - but today will be low key and I won't be doing much.  Just trying to stay vertical and not break a rib coughing my guts out.  :-)

On the Skids

Wednesday afternoon, as I was wrapping up the day full of meetings, I felt a decidedly 'sudden' sore throat.  Killer sore throat which hit out of the blue.  I had just initiated an impromptu meeting with my boss so I hung around as he came over to my office.  The meeting was good.  I wrapped up signatures and other things that couldn't wait and headed home.

Thursday was busy with...I have no idea what I did on Thursday.  I was home.  Off work.  But can't recall much of anything that we did. I felt bad and tried to book an appointment online with my doctor for Friday, but his scheduled was already full well into next week.  Thursday night was horrible - no sleep.  Massive congestion, raging headache, coughing myself to death (I felt).  I awoke Friday morning feeling absolutely awful so I called in and made an appointment with any doctor available.

Sinus and ear infection AGAIN.  The doctor I saw (new, female, young, very nice) counted back and said 'you've had five infections this year which is a lot.  If the things we are going to try this time don't work, I think you may want to get your sinuses imaged so we can find out if there's something happening that's preventing them to drain properly'.

Antibiotics and a nasal spray (which used to be prescription but is now OTC).  I did finally (FINALLY) sleep a little better last night (thank you, God!) though I still feel pretty cruddy and am heading upstairs shortly to go back to sleep (I hope).  Or just watch all the things on my DVR and rest today.

I'm planning to go back to my doctor when this abates (oh, and he was in and saw me in the exam room as the nurse brought me in and said 'hey, what's up?' and I said 'I tried to schedule with you but you are booked - and I have my usual' to which he replied 'but it didn't wreck Cancun, right?' and I said 'anything that doesn't feel great in Cancun is easily fixed with a(nother) margarita!') and suggest we do blood work to rule out anything else.  'Cuz the thing is, in between these acute things that make me miserable, I feel pretty awful most of the time.  I've been trying vitamins and supplements and anything else I can think of - but I feel pretty bad a lot of the time - so something is off in the all around-ness of my body that just makes fighting off infections impossible, apparently.

So we'll see.

For now, it's Augmentin three times a day (they are the size of horse pills) and Flonase once a day with lots of fluids and rest.  I am so glad I was off Thursday and Friday so I didn't have to phone in sick ('cuz I would have had to phone in sick)....but it's been a couple low-key days and stuff around the homestead is still piling up.  My desk is horrible - really awful - and I have no energy to deal with any of it.

B. is also under the weather trying to pass a 4.6mm kidney stone.  He's on pain killers and was sent home to try to pass it.  If it won't pass, they're going to do a new laser procedure (don't ask how - you don't want to know) and try to blast it away.  He's hoping he won't have to do the procedure.  Can't blame him a bit.

And H. said this morning 'Mom, I'm not feeling great either - my nose and head are all congested'. Great.  Maybe the sweet baby I played with and held on the flight home gave me some new germ to which our entire family has been previously unexposed - so it will work it's way through our house making us all miserable -

OH! and on Wednesday, J. had a fall getting out of the shower and attempting to 'run' to answer the phone.  He pulled a bunch of muscles - I arrived home Wednesday expecting to see him virtually immobile - but he's been doing pretty well - sore when he gets up from sitting and/or has sudden movements - but he's been doing OK and no doctor visit required.

Something has released a plague upon our house....

J. is heading out to purchase supplies for creating some new yard decor for Halloween.  He (thankfully) did get out yesterday to purchase some food and supplies (including candy for tonight). He got out our Halloween decorations and many of them are well past their prime - so he's procuring new ones.  If your house isn't decorated, kids won't come - so we have to do something.

My head feels fuzzy......(name that movie).

Sadly, It Ends

Our last day dawned a bit cloudy (easier to leave) only to clear into crystal clear skies and the calmest waters we've had all week.  Paddle boarders out this morning - and the condo owner made a deal with the guy (who just opened this week and is from Southern California) that Luna Encantada guests get a discount on renting boards.

The last day being so perfect seems to be God's way of saying 'come back soonest'....and we sure hope to.  We'll have to save paddle boarding for next time.

I am prune like post a couple hours soaking in the pool and now it's time to get things tidied up around here and packed to go -

I had a great chat with the condo owner - about owning property in Playa and the pros and cons of buying vs. renting.  They own two units in this complex and they make income above and beyond expenses on both - something they never imagined would happen when they bought them - they just hoped they would cover the costs and appreciate (which they have).

It's lovely here and I'd love to own so we could (someday) live here six months out of the year but as always, it comes down to wanting more flexibility - to go where we want, when we want.

But we won the lottery or came into some unexpected cash, I'd do it in a heart beat.  Visiting here a few times a year would be wonderful - and then someday, we could be here for months at a time instead of weeks.

It's paradise....really.  It's always so hard to leave, even though I know we will be back.

Also excited to be going home...'cuz home is best and I've missed it - and the young adult who lives there with us.

(I miss B. too, of course....).  That goes without saying....but I'll say it just in case -

Our airplane doesn't have 'in seat' entertainment (the travesty!) so we'll be doing a lot of reading and maybe sleeping on our flight.  Hoping for clear skies and an easy flight home - one hour longer on the return.  We arrive SFO at 9PM...which is 11PM here.  It's going to be a long night.

Owner Encounter

I've been reasonably sure since we arrived that the owners of the condo we are staying in were also here - in the other unit they own (which we have also stayed in when the kids were with us).  We've seen them down at the beach daily - they clearly have a routine and they act like owners.  Nothing derogatory implied in that statement - they just know where stuff is and do there own stuff - like finding the post hole digger digging the hole for sinking umbrellas into the sand and stuff like that. The guy does yoga daily on the front patio and around noon, they head down to the beach to spend the afternoon on two well shaded chaises to read and watch the world go by.

They eat home-made sandwiches and chips for lunch and bring their own beverages, like us.  They read a lot and nap on the beach and enjoy vegging....like us.

I kept telling J. 'I think that's S.' and he'd say 'go over and say Hi'....but I didn't want to intrude and felt that their vacation should be as sacred as ours in that you shouldn't have to deal with people who rent your home periodically.  Yesterday, I finally got up the courage and went over and asked 'are you S.' and she replied very cheerily 'yes!' and I said 'I am M.' and thanked her and her husband G. for sharing their slice of paradise with us.  Lively chatter ensued - they are very nice and we enjoyed chatting - gave us lots of ideas for series to binge watch and some info on the beach.  They are here for the owners annual meeting (tomorrow) and will be here a total of three weeks.

They suggested we make a trip to Akumel - really nice snorkeling there in a calm, secluded cove. Sounded like something we should consider.  It's a taxi ride there, hoping we find the right cove, likely crowded on a Sunday....

This morning, we woke up with the devices we have to tell us the time all saying something different. My iPad lost an hour (ala Daylight Savings Time though that's not supposed to happen until next Saturday night) while J.'s phone and my computer stayed where they were....so we honestly have no idea what time it is.  I thought I was up at 7:30 (my norm) when it may be actually 8:30.

J. asked 'so you want to go to Akumel?' and I replied 'sure, if you want to'.  And God love this man - he said 'I'm sort of ambivalent'.  As am I.  Truth is, hanging out at the condo, reading, watching West Wing, heading to the beach whenever, ordering chicken nachos for lunch from the restaurant next store with nowhere to go and nowhere to be...that's my idea of this vacation.  This totally vegging, do nothing at all if we choose to beach fest.  Maybe we'll take a nice walk down Avenida Cinco - maybe we won't.  No plans and no need to make any.

I dreamed about work last night for the first time on this trip - and really, I so rarely dream about my job...but there it was.  In the back of my psyche....it's always there.  And in a few short days, it will be back - in all it's complicated, exhausting, challenging glory.

So for now, vegging is all I really want to do - nothing at all or whatever we want to do, whenever we want to do it - it's my idea of a perfect vacation - and I'm blessed to have a hubby who is either humoring his wife or enjoys vegging, too.

Beachy

Things I love about the beach:

• Bed head and beach head look remarkably similar.  I can get away with showering before we head into town for dinner and doing a quick wet comb process in the morning with a little dry shampoo.  Some weird angles remain and the texture is thicker - but it works 'cuz it's humid and salty -
• Guacamole made fresh in front of us along with the most delicious pico de gallo.  I never eat pico at home - but here?  It's really delicious.  Jalapenos included which are carefully seeded so there's the hint of hot but not.
• Itchy skin from sunburn.  I know it's my skin's way of screaming for mercy but to me, it means I've been out in the sun and I love it.  
• Rain without cold.  Though yesterday, it did get a teeny bit chilly on the beach when the sky turned dark gray and sprinkles started.  We headed up to the house shortly after the sprinkles started 'cuz we weren't sure it wasn't going to pour buckets any minute.  It didn't.  Better safe than sorry.
• Telling J. I am getting dressed and it's a bathing suit and cover-up for most of the day.  And dressing for dinner just means shirt, capris and sandals.
• Steak and Lobster for $25.  Our entire dinner check last night came to $68 and we both had cocktails along with dinner.  We splurged 'cuz we've been eating for around $10-$20 US per meal so far and even had a 'no dinner out' night 'cuz we had plenty of leftovers. 
• Just the two of us.  Everything is easier.  Laundry was two loads done in record time. Meals are easy to prepare and easy to clean up.  We've spent less than half what we brought and we've only got three nights left.  We do miss H. and he keeps saying (over and over and over) "I wish I was there, too".  I know he does - but we aren't doing tons of activities this trip - we are just chillaxing and he would be bored.  His entertainment is expensive.  We are fine with West Wing DVDs and reading.  He'd need way more action than we are up for this trip.  

I'm thinking Playa in March and Paris in October every year from now until I retire.  The only thing is I am mixing my languages.  I want to say 'La carta, s'il vous plaît' - and I have to constantly think about not mixing my pleases and thank yous in French and Spanish.  

It's a nice 'problem' to have....I admit.  

Hurricane! What Hurricane?

Thanks to my cousin in AZ for giving me a heads up that a Category 5 hurricane is heading towards Mexico -

Thankfully, it's on the other side of the coast, pretty far from where we are...though it may make our flight home a little bumpy.  We crossed Mexico near the US border before heading out over the Gulf of Mexico towards the 'tip' where Cancun and Playa are....so if we follow that same path back, we should avoid most of the bumps.

Here's hoping.  I dislike turbulence.

For now: