December 22-24, 2010

December 22-24, 2010:

No phones yet, and not all of the satellite receivers are getting full service. We have to make lots of calls and have to use the cell phones.  Cell service up here is sketchy at best and to get them to work half way good, you have to stand by and lean into the front window, tilt your head to the east, and hold one leg up!  I’ll be glad when the phone us up! 

We’re trying to make a list of what we have to do today and need for the kids at the grocery store. Time slips away, and we are going to have to take the kids to the store with us! (help us!) Unfortunately the water is off again (and yes it’s paid)…luckily I got a shower and brushed my teeth before it went out.  We made the call to the water company – hopefully it won’t be out long, but we’re getting used to having water problems!  

We get to Carla’s before the kids get off the bus, and have parked up the street in hopes of surprising the kids.  They were definitely surprised and excited!  Then we dragged them to Sams and Shop-n-Save! Torture for a kid (and adults too)! But we made a big finish at McDonald’s and all was well.

We got things to make cookies for Santa and Rice Krispies Treats – but I didn’t get any crafts.  I guess we’ll have plenty to do anyway.  I think I have some stuff to make snowflakes, but not any kid scissors so we’ll see if we can do that. They are really excited that it’s supposed to snow and brought all their snow clothes.

Thursday we made about 6 dozen cookies. A few for Santa, some for mom and dad, and the rest we will be taking to Jeff’s and Annie’s for everyone on Christmas!  Bradley only barely lasted long enough to get 2 cookies decorated for Santa and one for himself!  Erica helped me finish the rest and boy was she exhausted! I told her she should remember all the hard work it takes do all that, and to remember the next time she sees cookies, cake and big meals! Ha!

CenturyLink finally came about 3:30pm on Thursday to hook up the phone.  So now I can catch up with e-mails and my blog…in between picking up after and playing with the kids. Ok…realistically…nothing will get updated until after Christmas.      

We woke up Friday to snow…and the kids are so excited.  After breakfast, Bradley is the first to get himself ready to go outside!  I remember how I loved snow when I was a kid.  Now I’m an adult…and it only looks pretty in pictures! =)  But at least it will be a white Christmas…although I would prefer a white “sand” Christmas!

The kids are out playing in the snow…so I have a few minutes to update the blog and wish everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas! Can’t wait to try to visit and catch up with everyone before we leave for St. Croix! 

Let it snow…Let it snow…Let it snow!  =) 

 (catching snowflakes!)

Don't know when the next update will be, but stayed tuned...i'm sure something will happen that I will write about! 

Love to all!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 - Our First Day Home

Tuesday, December 21, 2010:

Tuesday morning we get up (me under protest, cause I didn’t want to get out of that warm bed!),

visited with Bob for a while and then head home. On the way home, feeling the cold, I got the hankering for some good potato soup. We decided to stop at the grocery store real quick and pick up some stuff to make the soup – plus we needed to get Twinkies and Zingers!

Wow, it seems like it’s been a long time since have been in a grocery store as nice as this one. (and we’re just in the little country store where we live)  LOOK GERALD!  FOOD THAT’S  NOT EXPIRED!  AND (SNIF SNIF) IT DOESN’T SMELL! It was wonderful! I wanted to buy one of everything! But I was able to restrain myself (thanks to Gerald repeatedly saying “we don’t need that….we don’t need that…we don’t need that!”).  So, we just got the priorities – Twinkies, Zingers and potato soup ingredients. Then headed home.

I'm struck by the stark contrast of where we were...and where we are now!

(where we were)

(home)

WOW!

Ahh but it’s great to be back in my home amongst my own things! I dance around touching everything like a fairy princes! Hello clean smelling house, couch and furniture! It’s wonderful to see and use you again clean sheets, towels, blankets, pots and pans! I love you all of my wonderful clean kitchen gadgets! I’ve missed you. Especially you my special uber-sharp Cutco knifes! (so please don’t cut my fingers off when I get a little over zealous the first time I use you! I’ve been out of practice!) I have missed you all and would hug and kiss you if I could!  It almost brings a tear to my eye to be back home in my own place, to know I will have everything I need, and to feel comfortable again. Notice I said “in”….the “outside” sucks! =)    

It’s a little cold in the house, and really cold unloading the suitcases from the car.  My hands are cracking and my nails are breaking! …whine! whimper! whine! We busy ourselves with turning up and on heaters, and the water to get the house fully functioning again.  Or at least try.  We turn off all the faucets in the house (cause Gerald opened them before we left) and then Gerald turns on the main line, but no water comes out.  He immediately thinks I haven’t paid the water bill (he doesn’t trust the electronic and auto-pay stuff - but we didn’t have much of a choice being gone this long) and so he gets a little cranky at me because now he thinks that he is going to have to call the water company and probably pay a penalty and extra fee to have them turn it on again – and who knows when they will be able to do it (despite my pleas of innocence).  But I talk him into checking the outside faucet first in case there may be another problem since I know I paid the water bills (I have receipts) and the next one isn’t due until the 30^th.  Sure enough it works so that means there is another problem. Then I ask him about the other shut off valves that Al said he turned off when the water ran out of the water softener and all over the basement floor when Gerald shut the water off and opened up the faucets…it all drained down to the softener…and the saltwater overflowed onto the basement floor. So we had a nice little salt flat going on down there.  Then Al stopped by and confirmed that he had shut off the other valves to the softener after the water incident...so I was vindicated.  Not that I heard an “I’m sorry” or anything.

After that, I started to make potato soup and danced happily in my kitchen as I found all my pans, knifes, peelers and gadgets readily available for use, and more importantly - clean. It was one of my better batches of potato soup too I must say…made with lots of love! =)

I also had to call the telephone company because we had no phone service at all.  I guess when Gerald called them and put a hold on our phone service, it was actually shut it off, so now we won’t have a home phone for a few days…and no internet either, so my posts will be backlogged.  But the gal was very nice and said she would try to get it hooked back up as soon as possible. I had Gerald call Dish to get that back up and that only took a minute…and it was all back on and running. I need to remember (if we cancel the phone again) to call the phone company a few days before we come back home in June so that we can come home to all our utilities working. Hopefully we won’t have to pay reconnect fees.

Gerald went to pick up our mail from Walter and Marilyn.  The mail tub I left is full and it took me about 4 hours to go through it all. There must have been 20 credit card applications and of course political stuff from the November election! Man what a waste of paper! By the time I got through that, it was bedtime!

We never did get to the grocery store today and we are going to pick up the kids tomorrow and keep them for a few days, but I guess we can do that on our way to pick them up.  Not like it’s too hot and the food will spoil in the car!

Better get to bed and get some rest…won’t get much while the kids are here!



Monday, December 20, 2010 – Going Home - UPDATED

Monday, December 20, 2010 – Going Home:

It’s hot this morning.  Not much air movement and running around in long pants getting everything together we are sweating!

Gerald called the golf cart company to confirm they will meet us at 9:15 am to turn in the cart…and of course, they didn’t know what he was talking about!  Good thing he called.

So today’s adventures begin! Wish us luck!

Love you all!

UPDATE:

Said goodbye to Linda and headed to the airport. It didn’t take long to get there and we didn’t lose any luggage on the way, despite Gerald’s attempts to ditch them once or twice! When we got to the airport, checking in was nothing – tell them your name, give them your luggage, get your genuine, authentic, laminated “boarding pass” and wait.  Gerald stayed outside to wait for the golf cart company to retrieve the cart and check it out.  He doesn’t have much patience and is having a heart attack because it’s 9:20 and they aren’t there yet.  But…in true non-American Caribbean timeline fashion, they were a few minutes late and the whole thing was done in a flash.  Plenty of time before we have to get on the plane.

We’re called to board, and I end up having to sit in the last row in the very back of the plane with two other ladies. It’s bumpy and bouncy back there! We stopped on Caye Caulker (to pick up 1 guy), and then we finally head to Belize City.  We get off the plane, pick up our luggage, go to check in at Continental and get ready for that ordeal. Actually, that didn’t take long either…and as it turned out they offered us an upgrade to first class! I’ve never flown first class before. Always wanted to, but I’m not willing to pay the price! However, it was only going to cost us $35 each!  So…guess what I did…I said HECK YEAH!  Are you kidding? Mark that one off my bucket list – I’m doing it!  I don’t think Gerald cared less one way or the other…but I was not going to let that opportunity pass without taking advantage of it! It will never happen to me again! The only problem was that our seats were not together, but the clerk said one of the two people in the next seat would probably switch. As a general rule she is right…and the worst is that we don’t sit together…which might not be all that bad of a thought anyway! =)

So our suitcases tagged with “priority” stickers off they go, and off we go through security to wait for the flight.  It didn’t seem like it was all that long before they were making the call for boarding … and being in first class we got to go first (I felt like I was sneaking on the plane!).  We get on the plane and tell the flight attendant (her name is Jan Burke) of our dilemma and she says no problem, then tells us she thinks there is an open seat anyway, so tells Gerald to go ahead and sit next to me anyway and they will deal with it if it comes up.  So we wait. 

(my tag finally pays off!)

The entire plane boards and we think we are home free…then suddenly a guy gets on and stands at the doorway and has a not-so-happy look on his face.  Apparently it’s his seat. He’s not happy.  Jan asks him if he would be willing to change his seat to the first row so Gerald and I can sit together.  He’s quite grumpy but consents.  Then he proceeds to complain profusely to Jan about it. We were trying to get her attention to tell her he can have his seat – it’s not that big of a deal to make an issue out of it, but she is already telling him he can have his seat back if that is what he wants. She told us later that he just wanted to find something to complain about and for us not to worry about it. There goes my excitement of being in first class! I hate to generalize, but it makes me wonder if people who regularly ride in first class are total jerks. I hope not, but if memory serves me correctly, I’ve never really noticed anyone in first class having a happy face. Hmmmmm? 

Despite all that, (and thanks to Jan’s kindness) it really was a grand ride.  Lots of room.  Grand leather seats. Definitely a smoother ride than in coach.  We got drinks before we even sat down, then we got our choice of meals, and a really good meal too (not like the frozen gross stuff like there used to be in airplanes – like frozen chicken). This one consisted of fresh fruit, mushroom soup and a hot turkey and cheese croissant pocket. It was yummy. Gerald actually ate all of his! The seat reclined way back and had a nice head rest.  We each had our own TV monitors.  And it was pretty quiet! (except for the little kid next to Gerald who was allowed to roam the isle, and grabbed his arm while he was sleeping!) But, all in all, well worth the $35! And what a great memory! (despite Mr. Jerk O. McCrabby).

Our fantasy first class ride came to an end in Houston.  Then came the 6 mile walk to immigration, 2 more miles to customs and a 1.25 hour walk (more like a wait, shuffle, wait, shuffle, wait, shuffle) through security to get back into the airport that we never left to begin with. Surviving all of that (barely) we got an ice cream (cause we couldn’t find a Twinkie) and waited for our next flight. Unfortunately, even though we were in row 4, it was not first class. Bummer. Especially since the people behind us couldn’t figure out how to shuffle cards without slamming and beating them on the tray table and talking about body cavity searches in security. Good grief - people are inconsiderate nits sometimes!

We land and step off the plan and the cold air hit me like a ton of bricks! BRRRRR!!!! OMG IT’S COLD!! I don’t like it! Whaaaa!

We called Carla to let her know we landed, then proceeded to the luggage carousel to wait for our bags and call Avis to pick us up.  We figured we would have to wait for a while but the suitcases were going around the carousel when we got there! That’s a first! Now it’s time to go outside…and I don’t want to! But Avis is already here, and we can’t live at the airport! So we get in the car and head to Avis & Bob’s house. We had a bite to eat, visited a bit and the travel lag hit us hard so we decided to just stay there for the night and come home the next day. Avis turns on the electric blanket on the bed and hooks up the satellite for us and man it was so warm and comfy!  It took me a whole 2 minutes to fall asleep!    ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sunday, December 19, 2010 – Our last day in Belize

Sunday, December 19, 2010 – Our last day in Belize:

The weather sure has turned nice, just in time for us to leave!

Gerald did a good job of really helping me fold and pack the suitcases (no…really he did!). It’s hard to pack everything anyway since we still have to shower tomorrow morning then figure out what to wear between here and the arctic north!  But most of it is done, and we have returned everything else in the condo to its rightful place. We’ll gather up the unused supplies and see if Linda wants them.

We took our old crackers over to the ocean and tried to feed the fish.  Not too many fish, but then the gulls came and it started to look like an Alfred Hitchcock movie and I felt a little like Tippy Hedren!

 (Coco Locos swim up bar!)

 (Linda and Marlin)

 (Feeding the Fishes!)

Took a few pictures of Coco Locos, talked a bit, then came back to the condo.  Linda has made some stew and that’s what we are having for dinner. (can’t wait!)

I’m trying to get everything done, but it’s hard to pack all the food and cleaning stuff up because I might get a craving in the middle of the night or need to clean something.  But, most can go and we box the majority of it up and take it to Linda. Linda has the stew ready and she gives us a pot full.  We’re hungry and eat it as soon as we get it back up to the condo. Man is it good! YUM!  She should have a little kitchen over there!  But now that we are done eating…Gerald and I are both have a bad craving for something sweet, like cake or something like that.  We both agree we are going to hunt down a Twinkie or vanilla Zinger when we get to Houston.  Wonder if they have them there?  If not…we are stopping by the first store I see and get a box (or two) of Twinkies and we’re going to eat them all on the way home! Sugar coma…here I come! =)

Now that we have stuffed our bellies…we’ll probably run over to Coco Locos tonight for a final drink and say our final good-byes!  =(

UPDATED:

We hit the Tiki Bar at Reef Village real quick to see if Rashida is there so we can say goodbye to her, but she isn’t so we get a quick drink and head to Coco Locos.  We have a couple of drinks there, visit some and play clacker. It’s a dice and numbers game…I’ve played it at my cousin Machelle’s parties. It’s fun. 

(here we are with Linda and  Marlin!)

We close Coco Locos down and head back to Tiki Bar to hear Dennis Wolfe’s last set.  It’s a fun night for our last evening in San Pedro (but I could have picked a better night than our last night to catch a buz - we have to fly tomorrow!!).

I e-mailed Pam and Rob last week to ask how they want to handle inspecting the apartment and turning over the keys before we leave. I hadn’t heard from them yet, so I called Rob tonight, who is managing the apartment (Pam is the owner).  Rob says he doesn’t have time to inspect the apartment, and instructs me to leave the keys at the Tropic Air front desk (not with a neighbor here).  Ok. Strange...but whatever they ask!  I’ll be sure to take pictures of the apartment.  Then I get an e-mail from Pam when we get back to the condo, instructing me to leave the keys in the apartment if Rob isn’t taking us to the airport. ???? Now what!?!? I e-mailed Pam to let her know the conflicting requests and hope that she e-mails me before we leave.  If I don’t hear from her, I guess I’ll leave the keys at the airport as the local manager has instructed. I don’t know what else I can do! Good grief!

So with us traveling tomorrow and home for the holidays – about 3 weeks total – there probably won’t be daily postings. But, if something unusual or interesting happens, I’ll post it. (which is possible – we have the grandkids for a few days and I plan on making our regular holiday cookies!)  Otherwise, the regular postings will begin once again on a daily basis probably around January 10, 2011 when we travel next.  I’m sure there will be some sort of incident to report! =)

Thank you everyone who made our Belize trip memorable and full of interesting and fun times.  We will remember you forever! We hope to come back!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!  I wish you all much love, peace and happiness!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLA! 

It’s a nice sunny and warm day! YAY! 

Found a cool app for my iPhone last night so that I can pull up song lyrics for Gerald.  Now I just have to get a list of all the songs he doesn’t know…ok…right…that’s an easy task!?  I wonder if I can get a bigger chip for my phone...? Gerald doesn’t seem to be as excited as me.  I’m thinking I might try to get one of those little computer gadgets and just have song lyrics on it for him, so he won’t need to have a book or anything. He seemed open to that. He has been using my iPhone to practice a couple new songs that people have requested, so he’s getting a little practice!

Guess we’ll go in to town to get some gas…maybe even get a “Gringo in Belize” t-shirt and then take a final road trip up north.  We understand you can go pretty far now since they have fixed the road…so we’ll take a video and show it to you!

Need to go ahead and do some organizing and packing today too.  Might as well get some of the stuff put away that we don’t need and get that out of the way.

First we’ll head to town to take the big water jug to the water company and get our deposit back and then get some gas.  After that, we stopped at BC’s (it’s a beach bar/restaurant) because we hear they have Gringo In Belize t-shirts there. The owner is apparently a Cubs fan! Harumph!  So you know I had to get out my lucky Cardinal cap and wave it around! Neener neener neener!

 (was Chick McGee here?)

 (A new slogan for Stupies?)

Despite all of the Cubs paraphernalia there, we have a drink and ask about what shirts they have.  We should have come here sooner in our visit…the drinks are WAY cheap...only $1.50 each!! So put that on your list of stuff to do if you are here…go to BC’s…they are the cheapest drinks by far!  The bartender totally ignores our requests about t-shirts – don’t know why – but he did. So we finish our drink, pay and leave.  

We trek down the road to Fido’s to see about getting a shirt there since that’s one of the places Dennis Wolfe sings on a regular basis and said they sell his shirts too.  The shirts they had were slim pickins…and they only had one large shirt for Gerald in some gawd-awful ugly hunter/mustard orange (having flashbacks Judy?!).  No thanks! While I’m sure if he wore it you would be able to pick him out of a crowd at ½ a mile away…I just wouldn’t want to be that close to him with that shirt on period! But I did get a small long sleeved white one for me.  I’ll need it for our trip home…since I can’t really do my laundry, and didn’t bring sufficient winter clothes to come back home to such cold temps. Think I’m going to wear multiple layers to try to keep warm! That will make my suitcases lighter too!

Shirt obtained, we drive around looking for the cell phone store that will unlock my iPhone for cheap.  $30 BZE – that’s $15 US.  At home…you pay around $100.  The guy is out and won’t be back till Monday.  There goes that opportunity! Oh well. Back to the condo…we’ll take the beach road to take a video.

So, here is the beach road.  It’s definitely a nice view, and there are several places to rent and/or buy.  They obviously didn’t do any grading on this side!

** TOUR OF BEACH ROAD**

Then, we go to the North side.  You can see where they have put gravel (and I use that word loosely) – it’s more like blast fragments! But…still better than it was before!  You mostly see the back side of the resorts and places, and they usually take water taxi’s to get there.  These roads are killer – even after grading!

** TOUR OF NORTH AMBERGRIS CAYE**

On our way back we decide to stop at the Lazy Croc to get some of their BBQ.  It’s so good and you get like 5 lbs of meat! Gerald and I should have gotten one to share! We don’t see the croc when we get there so the waitress throws out some bread, which makes the fish flop, which makes the croc come swimming very fast from across the pond…this is the one that has half his lower jaw missing…

Back to the hole.  Better get busy packing, tomorrow is going to fly by!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Friday, December 17, 2010:

Sunny and warm today.  Yay! But we don’t have anything planned.  The wind has the seas rough…glad I’m not on a boat today!

Another run of ants has found its way up the front of the building, on to our deck, through the wall and in the living room so I have to get the Terro out again and squirt it on the deck. Haven’t seen any in the kitchen for a while!  They really go for it and crowd around! Drink little guys, drink! Tomorrow…they will be gone! Mwaaahahahaa! =)

Linda is supposed to make chili tonight at Coco Locos, so I need to get my onion and provolone cheese dip done.  While I’m doing that…Gerald practices a little on his guitar. 

I get an e-mail that Judy has fallen on the ice and broke her wrist….Judy…you are not allowed outside in the ice ever again…  We’ll be thinking of you on Monday!

My dip spilled out and even though I had foil underneath to protect the stove, it still got on the bottom of the oven…now I have to clean that!  But, it tastes pretty good! Thank goodness Linda let me borrow her grater…that would have been a pain cutting up all that cheese with a knife!

We head over to the Coco Locos, set up, and have a drink. Linda brings the chili and we all eat, drink and be merry! Gerald gets his guitar out and starts to play.  We were there until about 10:30 last night! They usually close at around 7 or 8, depending on who is there!  But we were having too much fun!

Gerald couldn’t remember the words to some of the songs (mostly the ones Ron sings) so I’m on a mission to find a good app for my iPhone for song lyrics. Either that…or Ron has to come with us next time…they’ve put in a request for him at the Coco Locos anyway!

It was a real fun night.  I gotta get over there and take pictures so you can see it!

Thursday, December 16, 2010 - UPDATED

Thursday, December 16, 2010:

It’s raining this morning. Lots of dead skeeters on the deck again.  Seems we’ve been sweeping them off every morning for the last week!  Occasionally a bird comes by and eats a few of them. But at least it feels warmer! 

Gerald said he saw a big truck of armed military go by real fast this morning heading north.  We’ve seen some in town too, but at first we thought it was because a guy got shot here last weekend (a local) and they were afraid of retaliation. But we’ve seen others a couple days ago, and with this sighting going up north, maybe it’s because of the Mexican diplomat coming.  You see armed military all the time in Mexico…but this is new for us here in Belize.  We didn’t see any in Placencia.  I don’t know when this diplomat is coming…but I sure hope he/she doesn’t come when we are trying to leave!

Well, I’m off to my massage…talk soon!

Update:

Got my massage and pedi’s.  It was great!  The layout of the place is really cool…I’m noting it for when I build my Caribbean home! =)   My appointment was at 1, so I told Gerald to give me a couple hours (so that would be 3)…he came at 2. He left once and came back with a Dr. Pepper and M&M’s, ate some and left the rest of the M&M’s for the girl who was doing my pedi’s! Lesson learned – drive yourself next time.

On the way back, we stopped and picked up the carving I ordered from Rasta James.  He did a good job.

James Brown also saw us on the beach talking to Rasta James and came down to ask me about the havarti cheese toasts I made for the Coco Locos feast last Friday! He really really liked them and wants the recipe so he can impress a girl I'm sure! =)  (he’s a good lookin guy Freida!)

On the way back, we notice that the roads are getting a little bumpier, guess from the rain we’ve had. I almost fell out once, when Gerald made a quick left to “dodge a hole.”  That’s what he said anyway…an accident! 

Back safely at the condo…we eat dinner…then go to bed!  What a rough day!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010:

Kinda cloudy today and very cool.  Looks like rain to the east. We are going to head into town to pick up my dress, go to the store and also see if we can get a later flight out of here next Monday so we don’t have to wait so long in Belize City (right now there is a 4 hour layover!). I also want to see about getting a massage, mani/pedi at the Asian Garden Spa. The people upstairs were making LOTS of noise all night last night…so not much sleep and I’m a little tense and tired.

We stopped at Tropic Air first. They were very nice and we were easily able to change our flight out.  It’s only an hour later…but that’s an hour less at the Belize City airport! We head further south to the store, got what we needed then stopped at the Asian Spa.  Made an appointment for tomorrow at 1.  I’m excited! 

We head back and picked up a hitchhiker, she was headed north past the bridge to pickup her child from school…that is a long way to go twice a day! We also stopped at the veggie stand and got some onions and potatoes. Then back to the condo to put our stuff away, eat some lunch and take a nap! =)

After resting we went over to Coco Locos to have a drink and visit.  It is windy, cold and now it’s raining.  It is amazing to have this weather here! I even have to put on my long pants and wear my fleece jacket that I accidentally brought! Thank goodness for some accidents!  Obviously there weren’t too many people there, but we did speak to another couple who just moved here permanently since August.  He is still working…remotely via internet.  My hero!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010:

We didn’t do anything today. So nothing to report.  I worked on my blog. Did some research on jellyfish – which seemed to take forever! We cleaned the condo. That’s about it!

I know. Yawn!

(happy now Bob?)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Monday, December 13, 2010:

Nice and sunny today.  Was pretty cloudy earlier. Gerald scheduled us to go through the resort this morning so we have to get ready for that.  

So we get down to the office, and Gerald didn’t realize it was a tour of the resort, he thought we were going to talk to management about the water! Ha! Oh well.  We talked with Radisha (aka Peaches or Reef) for a while. She’s got her big coat on!

I’ve noticed these strange things in the lagoon and asked Radisha if they were jellyfish and she said yes. They are fascinating and there are millions of them in this lagoon…in all different sizes and colors, clear, yellow, green and light and dark blues.  I researched and found out they are called Cassiopeia or Upside Down Jellyfish.  Sometimes the crabs that live in the shallow waters will carry one on their back and walk around, using them as camouflage from their natural predators and us - so we don't catch them and make crab soup!

You could even see itty bitty tiny ones hanging on the plants in the water!  It's a jellyfish breeding ground! I just noticed them moving yesterday.  She said she wouldn’t swim in there…heck no! Better not fall in either!

We then headed in to town to get more fishing equipment for Gerald, a jug of water and to drop off my dress to get it repaired.  Boy…it really is chilly on this cart with the wind blowing! Remind me to bring a pair of jeans with me on our next leg of our sabbatical!

We stopped at the bakery down the street and got a big cinnamon roll for breakfast tomorrow.

We get back to the condo and put the stuff away and maintenance comes to finally replace the broken blind on the door.  Now, after 3 ½ weeks, we get a little privacy and no more hanging the blue Delta Airline blanket over the window.  There is still about 3 inches at the bottom of the window that it doesn’t cover.  I swear this developer is a ding dong! Then the guy tells us we really shouldn’t leave the door open because it will slam shut.  Ok…so exactly how do you get that great cross-breeze they boasted about on the website, so you wouldn’t have to use air conditioning?  Although it’s cool enough now…you don’t need air conditioning unless you are an Eskimo or Penguin!  Wish we could leave the doors open, but the screen holes are big and the no-see-ums would eat us alive!

Made some garlic cheese tortilla’s (like at Nautica) for lunch and they turned out pretty good. Real garlicky! Need to figure out what I can do with this provolone cheese for Friday. So I’ll do some research and see what I can do cheap. Found an onion and provolone cheese dip…looks easy…and onions are cheap! Sounds like that’s what I’ll be making!   

Don’t know what else we will do today. Since we ate all that garlic…we probably should stay away from people! =)

I fixed supper, and then Gerald wanted to go to Karaoke at the Reef Village Bar tonight, but I’m not going.  Scott’s not here to sing … and I’m not going. Period.  I’ll just work on the blog, eat some cantaloupe & watermelon for desert and be done with the day! Counting the days till we leave for home….

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Sunday, December 12, 2010:

Feeling a little warmer today.  Gerald went fishing this morning.  He says he caught a snook…but I wasn’t there to witness! =)

Gerald wants to go to Fido’s this afternoon because Dennis Wolfe is playing and it’s a jam session too. Not too many people were there.  One guy from Scotland gets up and plays guitar a little bit.  The place is pretty much empty and Gerald throws his hand up and wants to play.  He gets up and gets to do 3 songs. 

It sounded pretty good, especially with another guitar, bass and drums!  I’ll try to upload the video!

** Click HERE for Gerald Video**

The bass player is a girl – a shapely and pretty girl…I think Gerald found a new bass player! =)

No offense Ron…she’s just got more curves than you!

I browsed through a local artisan store while sitting there and they have lots of cool stuff! Paintings and carvings. Lots of talented people all over the world.

We head back to the condo…Dennis and the band (The Usual Suspects) are playing tonight at Reef Village at 5 (which is 6 in Belize time) and it’s welcome night too, so there’s free pizza and we’re going.  Funny how being on a “fixed income” will make you prey on the free vittles!   =)

We ate our fill of pizza, and had a few cookies too. We also made a friend.  This is Spotty. He and Freeway tiff a little.  Spotty  picks on poor Freeway.  He’s got a little head problem too – you can be standing there for a long time and if he suddenly realizes you are there, he will bark and charge at you!  

But as long as we were feeding him the pizza crust...he was our buddy!

We got a piece of pina colada cheesecake for later, but when we tasted it, it was gross.  The cookies were better. Mark that on your list of things not to get here! (but they do have darned good garlic butter shrimp!).