Mini blizzard

I woke up this morning to a blizzardy show outside of my office window. It has left a soft whiteness on the ground, with a peek of green grass showing through. As I watched neighbors scraping the whiteness off of their cars, I once again gave thanks for being able to retire and not having to get out in this stuff. Actually, I love the snow. I just hate the cold that comes with it.

I'm not sure whether I got a mild case of the flu or if the tamiflu med helps, but I feel much better today. Only 9 more sleeps until we get to Mexico...Ah, warmth and sun.

Just a few days after Christmas and I'm sitting inside on this cold December day in Illinois. I spent over 4 hours yesterday at Urgent Care to find out that I have the flu. I will say that I am feeling much better today. The best cure will be the beach in Mexico. I can hardly wait to go back to my 2nd home with all of the warmth - both the weather and the people and the food too. I'm anxious to "get my house (palapa) in order" with decorating and purchases. Only 10 more sleeps.....

Thursday, February 2nd

Went shopping at the Las Americanas mall in Playa del Carmen. I’m not a mall fan at all. But I really didn’t like this mall at all! I have always like the mall in Cancun. It was still very ….. Mexican-y. Lots of eclectic shops. Jewelry, etc. But this mall was just plain boring.

Friday, January 27th

Today was a Costco/Home Depot day. It’s about an hour and 20 minutes to get there. So we spent most of the day there. It made for a very crabby husband (he hates to shop). It poured on us several times. We didn’t even know it was going to rain, so we both wore white shirts. Not a good plan! But we found almost everything we wanted to get, so it was ALL GOOD.

Tuesday, January 24th - Living with the English

There are no 2 ways about it. We live in a 3rd world country. At home, when we go to the bathroom, we toss the toilet paper down the toilet and flush it. Here, they don’t flush their tp because the systems just can’t handle it. So, when my English neighbor asked if I threw my Loo paper down the Loo, I just had to laugh. It took me a few seconds to think about what Loo paper is. At home, we take these kinds of things for granted.

Monday, January 23rd

There are 2 theaters in Playa del Carmen that show movies in English and in Spanish. They are quite reasonably priced at around $3.50 all of the time. The popcorn and pop aren’t overpriced either. There’s a movie coming out from a series of books that Alicia and I have both read, discussed, and laughed over. We sure hope the movie is as good as the book. We always pictured Grandma Mazur as a little Italian grandma and they have cast Debbie Reynolds to play the part. Hmmm. I don’t know about that. We’ll see. Sherri Shepherd should be a hilarious Lula. Anyway, if you get a chance to see “One for the Money”, let me know how you like it. (And read the books in the series. They’re snorting good.)
Here are two movies that are currently showing. I thought the Spanish titles were funny.
Gato con Botas - translated: Cats with Boots - Actual Title: Puss in Boots
La Chica del Dragon Tatuado - Translated: The Tattooed Dragon Girl - Actual Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Monday, January 23rd

The ham was yummy. (There was even enough leftover ham for everyone to have a baggie for sandwiches on Monday Also yummy were the turkey kabobs made by Jack. And the sides were magnificent. Potato salad with just a hint of curry made by Annie R., Fried plantains made by Tommy, pasta salad made by Jaime, a pecan brownie ish dessert with nutella on the top made by Debbie, 8 kinds of pecans from Cindy and a Tres Leche cake from Perry. No one went home hungry, that’s for sure. It’s fun to sit outside and chat with neighbors. I love having parties. How about you?
The day started off very cloudy and we were sure we were going to have a big rain. But it cleared off with just a few drops and it’s sunny and beautiful now.

Sunday, January 22nd

Went to Sam’s on Friday and got a deal on a whole ham. A WHOLE HAM for about $14.00. So what do you do when you have that much meat? Sounds like a reason for a party to me! So we’re having a Block Party today. Springfield Rich has a large grill and he’s going to put the ham on the grill while we take friends to Cancun airport. I know there is potato salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, and dessert coming. Mmmm.

Friday, January 20th

We went out for Chinese tonight. It’s a small place (only 4 tables) at the Chedraui supermarcado mall in Puerto Aventuras, only about 3 miles away. It was okay….very reminiscent of Panda Express rather than China House. But a reasonable meal and reason not to cook.
Then off to the crab races at the restaurant. It was our first crab race of the season. What fun. We didn’t win, but were able to root the crabs on and cheer for the winners.

Thursday, Jan. 19th

What a great time last night….again.
It was Bea’s 80th birthday party and everyone was invited. I estimate there were at least 150 people there. Everyone brought a dish, their drinks, a table, and chairs. The host and hostess provided meat (roasted pork), vegetables (green beans), bread, a a huge birthday cake. The food reminded me of a Mexican version of the Methodist potluck. What wonderful food! I made 2 corn casseroles (Alicia’s recipe) and they were gone. Why in the world didn’t I take a picture or two of the food tables? Sheesh. Old age. Or just too busy socializing.

Besides the food last night, we have our own “band”. A group of guys have a band and they do a darned good job of singing the oldies. Other people in the park sing with them as well, so they‘re not an “exclusive“ group. We even had a group of kids here in the park who got together and rehearsed a song (complete with handmade instruments) for Bea.
Bea’s husband sang a special love song for her. It was really touching. Even the guys said when you get to be our age, you want to make sure you take care of your special one and let her know how important she is to you. I try to think to do things for Pete just because it will make him happy and I’ve noticed that he does the same for me. Just because we love each other. I could go on, but I hear you saying…enough already with the mushy stuff.

I think I have a rep down here….reputation, that is. A 30ish woman (Veronica) came by with flour, ripe bananas, and nuts. She said, “Are you the baker? Would you bake banana bread for my kids? Even though I follow the recipe, mine turns out too oily.” I had to borrow sugar, baking powder, and pans from the neighbor (Kathy) So I made a double batch of banana nut bread. Veronica got a big loaf, with small loaves going to Kathy, Debbie (who was having a rough day yesterday), and one for us for breakfast. I’ve never put almonds in banana bread before. It turned out okay. It was moist enough. But pecans are better.

My first water aerobics class was today. I loved it! Water aerobics in the ocean. There is nothing like it. There were about 10 of us there.

Wednesday, Jan. 18th - Sunset on the Beach

This is what we get to wake up to around 6am on the few days we get up that early. How beautiful is that? We call it our million dollar view.

You know how I mentioned manana? Well, it happened again. Didn’t connect with the internet guy, so I can’t get my internet here in the palapa yet. That means I have to get dressed and head down to the restaurant to check email, face book, and post to this blog.

Pete’s already painting, but I haven’t even gotten out of my pjs. Time to motivate.

Tuesday, January 17th - Unpacking

We spent the day unpacking. It was so much easier this time. Even though we had lots, we’re beginning to know where things should go. Pete worked on projects like patching the holes created by boarding up the windows for the hurricane in October and supervising fixing the sliding doors (Rich and Mikie did the heavy lifting). They slide with one finger now. Thanks, friends, for all of your work. I unpacked the “rolling Rvs” and washed curtains. We were like gophers. We would sit down to rest for a few minutes, then want to finish a project and pop up to do it.

We went out to Mom’s, my favorite restaurant, for dinner. A special shout out to Patti & Ann - Pete and I both had the garlic parmesan crusted pork chop. And we finished off with dessert to share with the table…chocolate pecan rum cake with whipped cream. And they didn’t skimp on the rum either. Jorgen (the owner and chef) stopped by our tables to make sure our food was wonderful and we were all happy. He brought us each a complementary shot of tequila to end the evening. We ended the evening with a drink in front of Phil and Jaime’s palapa. I know I should’ve taken pictures, but I forgot my camera at home. Dang.

Monday, January 16th - Travel Day

Up way early in the morning for our flight to Cancun. At least we didn’t have any last minute packing to do. We have 4 large suitcases. We call them the rolling Rvs. They’re looking pretty beat up now and we might have to do some replacing, but they hold a lot (as you might have guessed by the name). We packed and weighed, then repacked and weighed again and ended up with

3 suitcases weighing 48 pounds

1 suitcase weighing 49 pounds

1 carryon

1 19” TV as a carryon

On international flights we are allowed 1 suitcase free (for each person) and $30 per bag extra. There is no charge for carryons. We were comparing packed items with other Paamulians and we’re in a neck in neck race with several of them. We managed to bring a toaster oven, small shop vacuum, stacking tables, a mini boom box & 3 pillows. We did lose the poundage race with Annie across the street since she got away with a 56 pound suitcase. LOL.

Rich & Debbie picked us up right on time at the airport. It was great to see them. Now, here’s one thing that’s so special about Paamul. Some of the things that were arranged for us before our arrival:

Palapa cleaned

Old, damaged cabinet removed and hauled away

Water tank cleaned out

Beach in front of palapa raked

Hot water heater checked - not started because we’re out of gas (*surprise*)

Gas company called to fill gas tank

Sliding glass door rollers removed so we could get replacements in Cancun

Costco, please listen to this. You need a store in Playa del Carmen. It takes an hour and 20 minutes to get to the Costco in Cancun. But it’s worth it for the meat alone (USDA choice). And you can rely on the Kirkland brand for taste and quality. Therefore we try to coordinate trips to Costco with trips to Cancun.

After Costco, we headed a few blocks away to Home Depot. Okay, now I’m in love. Pete knows that when I go into Home Depot, it’s going to involve either him doing something or us hiring someone to do something. We needed to get the door rollers. They didn’t have them at Home Depot, but they directed us to a store “close to here”. Well, 3 stops for directions and a few wrong turns and we ended up there. Cost - $30 pesos for all 4 of them - that’s less than $3.00US.

Then a final stop at H. C. de Monterrey for arracherra (sp). - seasoned beef. Mmmmmm.

For those of you who have been down here before, you know the road from the highway is a nightmare. Much to our surprise, the worst part of the road - the beginning - had a fresh load of gravel. It’s a great start. When will the rest of the road be fixed? I’m sure it will be manana. I always thought manana meant “tomorrow“, but it actually means “another day”. So you don’t really want someone to tell you they’ll be back “manana”. LOL

It was so nice to come into the park and see all of our friends here. Remember the old days when people were outside on their porches. It’s kind of like that here. It’s nice to be at our Mexican home.

Sorry - a long posting for a long day.

Sunday, January 15th - Getting Ready

We were able to fit in a little last minute pre-trip partying with some of our BFFs aka The Friday Fish Fry Bunch. Don’t you love it when you go to a party and everyone brings something? The food was so yummy. I’m waiting for a new recipe and then I’ll post it for you. (you know who you are…. Ann without an e….). But the very best thing was the chance to chat with friends. Oh yes. The games turned out pretty darned good, too.

A short sleep, then we headed out for the airport at 4:30am. Ugh. I am just not a morning person. We’re flying USA3000 and they will be ending their service at the end of January. That’s too bad because we’ve been able to get their $99 airfare several times. And we’ve never had a complaint about their service. Frontier is taking over for them and I hope they will be offering great fares, too.