Friday May 28th – Monday May 31st, 2010

Friday we went to get our placas, unfortunately we got there about 1:30 and by the time we spoke with the guy we were supposed to speak with it was already 1:45 and they person that we were needing only worked until 2 (at least that is what Sue got out of the guy, remember they only speak Spanish, that’s why we have Sue with us, thanks Sue). We drove back home and crashed for a while as we needed to be at the Fairmont Rancho Banderas resort at around 5.

This resort Ross played at is owned by the same Fairmont properties that own Canmore properties and others and is very, very, very nice. We had to drive through 2 security check points before we even saw the resort. We drove around to the back of the place and ended up walking forever to where they played, we were told we weren’t supposed to walk around the pool (which I find out later they did anyway) which was only a ½ minute walk.

They played in a very large lounge under the best palapa ever (see pictures!) kinda in the middle of the restaurant (the restaurant was in a C shape so everyone has a great view of the ocean and sunset). At first they wanted them to play in a little dinky area not even big enough for Ross’s drums, I think when they helped Ross carry in just his cymbal stands they looked concerned at the area. They ended up playing along the edge of the lounge between 2 of the TV’s (they played sports most of the night, with the sound off of course.

I looked on the board they had when you walked into the lounge and it said “Happy hour 2X1 drinks until 6” so I ordered 2 wines. I was told that it only applied to guests so I told them I would wait until they started to play (I assumed the drinks would be expensive), about 15 minutes later I received a glass of wine and about 10 minutes after that I was given another and an apology, you definitely can have 2X1 happy hour , yoohoo!

The resort didn’t seem to be too busy but the dinner crowd wasn’t bad, too bad they didn’t stay after dinner, only 1 couple was in the lounge with me at the start of the evening and at the end only 2 bunches of people were there. In the last set Geno’s guitar started buzzing, after turning off all the lights and stuff they had turned on when it started getting dark it seemed to get a little better but about 10 minutes before the set ended he got a really nasty shock from his mike, he said he still felt it still a little in his legs when they were tearing down the set.

Saturday we decided to scooter to the pool place in La Cruz so we could get some more hose for the pool but they were closed so we continued up the highway going towards Sayulita. What a fun drive (kinda hairy on some of the curves until I figured out what the hell I was doing) we drove all the way up to the public beach (which is really close to the resort the band plays at), it was so funny, we drove into the parking lot and a security guard came up to us to ask us not to drive the scooters down to the beach, now the funny thing is that in Mexico they have security guards everywhere…….but in a parking lot!?!?!?!?!?

We turned around to drive back (much better now, I have more confidence) and stopped off at La Cruz for a peek. They have a Mr. Sub of all restaurants on the square in La Cruz, seeing it instantly made me crave one; I will have to go back soon. They have one in Vallarta but La Cruz is so much closer.

Ross left around 5:30 to drive to Sayulita to play at the new restaurant. I didn’t go cause for one you can only hear the same songs over and over and over and over so many times and I really wasn’t feeling really well, it was just as well I didn’t go as around 7 - 7:30 I ended up with a nasty headache, took lots of Advil and had a very early night. Don’t get me wrong I love to hear them play but as I’m normally sitting by myself it is kinda lonely too.

Sunday we slept in really late and had a lazy afternoon, the band played at Ana Banana’s that night, I was going to ride with Ross until when he was ready to go Jake was still off wondering around, so I stayed back until Jake came home then I took off on baby to the bar. Ross had nachos for supper before they started playing and I had a really crummy BLT and the wine tasted really vinegary, I ordered a beer instead. My head still wasn’t feeling great so I left after the 1st set, went home and vegged.

We got up reasonably early this morning so we could drive back to the Transito office to get our silly placas (license plates) for our scooters; we met up with Sue, Harold and Alex (our translators). After waiting in one line up for a approx 20 minutes we went into an office where the guy stamped our documents and sent us to another guy. We waited a couple of minutes for him and then we went to the scooters, we were thinking for an inspection but all he did was take off part of our scooter which housed the VIN number (I think), he cleaned the number off, rubbed on some carbon paper then pulled some scotch tape off a roll and placed it on the carboned VIN number and then taped it to his black shirt! Back up to the office we went, he tried to use his radio to call Tepic (a bigger city) (we have no idea why, they already have approved our factura (scooter invoice) we don’t know why they did that!!!) and guess what the radio didn’t work (they didn’t think to use the phone) so everyone had to leave (we ended up going down stars for breakfast, the guy a head of us in line came down just after we finished and told us the radio still isn’t working so we have to come back tomorrow) ONLY IN FLIPPIN’MEXICO, THIS IS THE THIRD TIME WE HAVE GONE THERE FOR OUR FLIPPIN’ PLATES. We will have to go back on Wednesday (if the radio is working) because we have to work the office tomorrow.

Well, that is about it, Ross had gone to his meeting and when he gets back we are going to scoot to Ana Banana’s again to see another band and have some meatloaf with mushroom gravy, yumm.

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Tuesday to Thursday May 24th - 27th, 2010

Hola, Tuesday Ross went to work (No internet again!!!) while I stayed in bed for a bit before I had to drive to Vallarta to my eye appointment. I gave myself an hour to get there and park and I was a bit early so I wondered into Plaza Caracol and looked around a bit. I got there right at 12:45 and lo and behold they were on time. Funny, he had me look with each eye and read the letters he had there, as I read them he asked me why I was there??? I had 20/20 vision! I told him about my cataracts and that glaucoma runs in my family so he checked those and they were fine. He gave me a prescription for some eye drops and sent me on my way.

Wednesday - Lily came and know I have a clean house again, don’t get me wrong, I vacuum and stuff everyday but it just isn’t the same when someone else does it (she does bathrooms hurray!) She is going to come back next Thursday as Pam and Derek arrive on Friday and I want a really clean house for them to come to.

Ron came over today to check out their new internet business (kinda sorta) to see how things work. I thought Ross would be educated but it seems that he taught Ron rather than the other way around. They are going to get back at it soon.
We are going out to dinner tonight, we have been very good and have been eating at home these past couple of weeks; we are going to treat ourselves to dinner at the Twisted Rose, great hamburgers! They had a special 2 for 100 pesos, you can’t beat that. We went past the restaurant that Pam was asking about; Miguel Angels is right on the corner of the plaza right across the street from Adriatico’s on the beach.

Thursday - I had an appointment today at 1pm to get another requisition for more blood work; I opened my computer this morning and got an e-mail from my doctor.

“HELLO KIM THIS IS DRA LAURA. I AM IN A SURGERY AT THE HOSPITAL AND I AM NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET AT MY OFFICE AT ONE O CLOCK, CAN WE CHANGE OUR APPOINTMENT AT 6 AT AFTERNOON
THANKS AND I AM SORRY
DRA LAURA”

Have you ever had a doctor e-mail you to reschedule an appointment??? Let alone apologize for having to do it??? And people ask me why I want to live here, duh! Oh, by the way, doctors still make house calls here too!

We are having a lazy day today, my muscles have been aching (just like when you have the flu) for a few days now so I have been trying to rest, I don’t want to get sick for when Pam comes, that would suck! I have cut Ross’s hair, again and trimmed his beard, boy do they grow fast here. It’s just after 4 now and Ross is having his shower, he is coming with me to my appointment (it’s in Vallarta) and then we will pick up a couple of things, cat food naming just one. I’m sure we feed half the cats in our neighborhood!

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Wednesday May 19th to Monday May 24th, 2010

Well, no placas to date, I still have a very naked scooter! I am hoping we will be able to rectify this sometime this week.

Not much happened Wednesday to Saturday, we stopped by our Wal-Mart to take back the helmet that we didn’t want but we have to take it back to the Vallarta Wal-Mart and the guy told me when we take it back there…..do not tell him there is nothing wrong with it??? Or they won’t take it back; I am going to take it back tomorrow when I go for my eye exam. We went on some pretty fabulous scooter rides, around Bucerias and up the valley highway! We drove off the paved road and drove up a very interesting dirt/sand/rock road about half way up the mountain!

“Juan-Ted” & The AMAZING Rhythm Roosters played in Guayabitos Saturday night; it was a fund raiser for a fellow musician that has mounting medical bills. They played at a bar called Nivel Zero right on the main drag and it turned out to be a great night. I was told we got enough money to pay for his medical bills that he has right now. A big guy, bald with a leather wrist band asked if he could play the drums, so Ross got up and the guy wasn’t bad! We find out later that he wants to hire them for a biker party with 7000 bikers, yoo-hoo!

Sunday they played at Ana Banana’s and rocked the house down. Some younger people came in late and they ended up playing at least an hour past the time they were supposed to, I’m so glad they came it was extra money for Barry and Ana. Our good friends Sue and Harold came down to keep me company too, Harold and I had the BBQ ribs (nummy) and Sue had a fajita. Barry got on the mike and told everyone that they were going to play next Sunday too!

There is a resort not far from here that heard about this famous band and wanted to know if they would be interested in playing for them. The resort is called Fairmont Rancho Banderas; they are a time share resort about 8 minutes after passing through “La Cruz de Huanacaxtle”. We are really excited about it, they start this coming Friday.

Then…………….Saturday night they are playing in Sayulita at a new club! Sayulita is a cute little surfer town just 20 minutes away from here on the jungle road (which Ross loves to drive). This is the slow season!!! What the heck is going on!!! We like it.

On the home front we are just putzing away. Once we got the pool cleaned it started leaking again, so tried to fix it like we did the last time by threatening to put some stop leak for pools in it, but alas, it didn’t work. So Ross put in the stuff, we are hoping it will work. So far it hasn’t but the instructions tell you to leave it for at least 10 hours.

Last Tuesday I went to get my nails done but Gina got the wrong stuff for building the French nail so she used another product that sucked. It lasted not even 1 day, I called her on Wednesday to let her know and she just knew I would be calling, I made an appointment for tomorrow (Tuesday) after my eye appointment, but I drove by Wednesday when I was taking some books to Gringos Books and I noticed that they were just chatting, I drove around the block and found out that they were really slow so she ended up doing my nails then, 250 pesos later (she didn’t charge me the first time) I looked as good as new.

Well Ross came home from Mega, he picked up a couple of things, I asked him what we did, he couldn’t think of anything exciting, except for us eating in almost all week! We had hotdogs today and I made a potato salad that wasn’t terrible! I haven’t made one for a while!

We are just hanging out now, so I’ll say bye for now, hope everyone had a great day!

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise
Wednesday May 19th to Monday May 24th, 2010
Well, no placas to date, I still have a very naked scooter! I am hoping we will be able to rectify this sometime this week.
Not much happened Wednesday to Saturday, we stopped by our Wal-Mart to take back the helmet that we didn’t want but we have to take it back to the Vallarta Wal-Mart and the guy told me when we take it back there…..do not tell him there is nothing wrong with it??? Or they won’t take it back; I am going to take it back tomorrow when I go for my eye exam. We went on some pretty fabulous scooter rides, around Bucerias and up the valley highway! We drove off the paved road and drove up a very interesting dirt/sand/rock road about half way up the mountain!
“Juan-Ted” & The AMAZING Rhythm Roosters played in Guayabitos Saturday night; it was a fund raiser for a fellow musician that has mounting medical bills. They played at a bar called Nivel Zero right on the main drag and it turned out to be a great night. I was told we got enough money to pay for his medical bills that he has right now. A big guy, bald with a leather wrist band asked if he could play the drums, so Ross got up and the guy wasn’t bad! We find out later that he wants to hire them for a biker party with 7000 bikers, yoo-hoo!
Sunday they played at Ana Banana’s and rocked the house down. Some younger people came in late and they ended up playing at least an hour past the time they were supposed to, I’m so glad they came it was extra money for Barry and Ana. Our good friends Sue and Harold came down to keep me company too, Harold and I had the BBQ ribs (nummy) and Sue had a fajita. Barry got on the mike and told everyone that they were going to play next Sunday too!
There is a resort not far from here that heard about this famous band and wanted to know if they would be interested in playing for them. The resort is called Fairmont Rancho Banderas; they are a time share resort about 8 minutes after passing through “La Cruz de Huanacaxtle”. We are really excited about it, they start this coming Friday.
Then…………….Saturday night they are playing in Sayulita at a new club! Sayulita is a cute little surfer town just 20 minutes away from here on the jungle road (which Ross loves to drive). This is the slow season!!! What the heck is going on!!! We like it.
On the home front we are just putzing away. Once we got the pool cleaned it started leaking again, so tried to fix it like we did the last time by threatening to put some stop leak for pools in it, but alas, it didn’t work. So Ross put in the stuff, we are hoping it will work. So far it hasn’t but the instructions tell you to leave it for at least 10 hours.
Last Tuesday I went to get my nails done but Gina got the wrong stuff for building the French nail so she used another product that sucked. It lasted not even 1 day, I called her on Wednesday to let her know and she just knew I would be calling, I made an appointment for tomorrow (Tuesday) after my eye appointment, but I drove by Wednesday when I was taking some books to Gringos Books and I noticed that they were just chatting, I drove around the block and found out that they were really slow so she ended up doing my nails then, 250 pesos later (she didn’t charge me the first time) I looked as good as new.
Well Ross came home from Mega, he picked up a couple of things, I asked him what we did, he couldn’t think of anything exciting, except for us eating in almost all week! We had hotdogs today and I made a potato salad that wasn’t terrible! I haven’t made one for a while!
We are just hanging out now, so I’ll say bye for now, hope everyone had a great day!

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Tuesday May 18th, 2010

So how is everyone today, we are great! We worked the office this morning, I left at 12:15 to get my nails done by Gina down the street (she is awesome) and John and Christie came by to see if they could get the internet working.

Jaime (pronounced Himee, with a long i) came at 3 to see what he could do about all the algae at the bottom of the pool, he stirred it all up and will be back tomorrow to get all the gunk out, he will be back around 3 tomorrow as we get (fingers crossed) to get our placas (license plates) for our scooters. Alex, our bomberos friend that helped us with our driver’s licenses is going to call tomorrow morning to see if they are ready for us. If they are, we are meeting Alex and Sue in San Vicente (we have to bring our bikes) at the Transito office to get them.

We had a bit of siesta this afternoon before we met up with the dinner gang at the Sirloin Stockade (our tasty buffet 2 for 1) We had a great dinner, we drove there with Dick and Mary Carmen that are flying to Chicago tomorrow for 2 weeks and they are picking up some abreva (cold sore medicine, Ross has 2 but can’t find them). Roxanne, another friend, is leaving stateside in a couple of weeks and wants to know what we need; we love the friends we have made here!

We are now chillin out watching NCIS and trying to stay cool, it is very warm (26 and its 10:30pm), the humidity is 84%, it says it feels like 37, It’s supposed to be 35 all week! Thank goodness the pool will be ready to go into tomorrow.

Have a great night

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Monday May 17th, 2010

Ya know, sometimes I would give 50 bucks to sleep without an animal for one night, no I wouldn’t I always miss them when we’re not home, so forget I said anything!
Ross’s scooter helmet fell apart the other day, the foam interior came right away from the plastic shell and we couldn’t get it glued back so we were on the hunt for a new hemet, cheap! We stopped at Sam’s Club but they didn’t have any at all, we then walked (yes Barbara we walked) to the Galleria Mall to see what Liverpool had (that is where we bought our scooters) they had a helmet all right for $3000.00 pesos, which is way more than we were willing to pay, so we walked to Wal-Mart and found a black one for 548 pesos so we pick up that one, the only problem with that one is there is no face shield.

Harold told us that the Mexican scooter/motorcycle place called Italika (which is one of the major scooter/motorcycle makers in Mexico) so after Sam’s Club and Liverpool and Wal-Mart we went to find this cycle store and sure as shooten we found it, right where we were told it would be. We went upstairs and we found exactly what we needed for 1500 pesos!

We drove to Home Depot to get some chlorine tablets for the pool and some big honking hooks to put up my hammock. After getting back to Bucerias we paid our CFE bill (electricity) went to a familiar Pharmacia (that is a drug store where you can get generic drugs) to get some more of Ross’s diabetic medicine then to home.
We are cooking pork chops, rice and corn for supper; I’m going to have a salad also, so I’m gonna say bye for now, we hope everyone had a great Monday!

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Saturday & Sunday May 15th & May 16th, 2010

Both Saturday and Sunday were kinda sorta down days. Saturday night Dick and Mary Carmen picked us up at 6:30 and we drove to San Jose to meet up with the dinner crew at California Pizza. Now I have talked about this place before, it is a very small restaurant on the side of the highway where we take the tables and chairs outside and sit in the parking lot. They make the best Fettuccini Alfredo cameron (shrimp) that we have ever tasted! Mary Carmen brought a bottle of red wine (they don’t sell liquor) that she shared with me (I had brought a small bottle), a good time was had by all.

Sunday we were debating whether or not we should go to a movie, while we were watching Corrie Street, when Sue called to let us know that a few people were going to their house around 3 for a pool party and she wanted to know if we wanted to come. Tr55555555555555555-=[(Yoda wanted to tell you something) Since there was nothing good on the movies we went over to Sue and Harold’s. It was cool, Harold is a volunteer firefighter so two of the guys that were there are firefighters along with a wife and daughter. The cool part was the firefighters and family didn’t speak English but we seemed to be able to communicate just fine. We are now invited to their daughter’s 14th birthday party and communion (I think)! We had hotdogs, beans and macaroni salad, with guacamole, salsa and nachos for nibblies.

After we got home we decided to go for a scooter ride, wow did we have fun! We drove all around Bucerias, places we have never been before. Up and down hills, up the river, down on the other side of the valley highway through mango tree groves where there was a volleyball game going on. We drove up the river, under the bridge of the 200 heading to the ocean. We drove along a very short side road right beside the ocean and when we had to turn around I got my back wheel stuck in a grate that ran along the bottom of a driveway that we used to turn around. It was so funny, I started to rock the bike (just like you would when you are stuck in snow) and ended up driving a little farther up the driveway to roll back faster so I wouldn’t get the wheel stuck, it worked. We drove along the main road closest to the ocean and went straight through past the Decameron and drove the dirt road up and around and ended up at the Pemex gas station, we turned right on the 200 and just as we were in the turn lane to Mega Ross’s bike just shut off. He thought he was out of gas, yet the gauge read more than half full, he walked the bike to the Mega parking lot and we were debating what to do. I suggested Ross to try to start it again and after a couple of put puts it started, hurray! We drove home without any more problems and then we just watched a bit of TV then went to bed.

Hope everyone has a good week (we get our bike plates this week)

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Monday May 10th to Friday May 14th, 2010

It is low season, what can I say, not much going on these days. Found out yesterday that Pam and Derek are coming down for a week on the 5th of June, Pam is looking for some warm weather in Mexico, she will have it here. It has been going over 30 every day and the humidity is brutal! It feels like summer already! They got a great deal and will be staying at the Decameron, I’m so excited.

I bought some flower seeds the other day and put some plant boxes outside in the front and the little guys are sprouting already! I planted Canterbury Bells, Periwinkle Blue Centaura, Chrysanthemum Pacifica and Pansy Flowers. I bought some Geraniums too; I have them planted in a planter in the back yard. I also bought some mint plants (already grown) and some other herb seeds and I got a packet of cactus seeds, not quite sure where I’m gonna plant those. I guess it doesn’t matter where you live when May arrives you need to plant something.

I am trying to do something different with our back yard; it looks so concrete (which I guess it should, since it is). I have moved some plants around to see if it looks any better, I guess it does a little. I moved plants around the pool to make it look more inviting. (I’m gonna talk with Sue to see if we can get her pool boy to come over and vacuum the bottom of the pool, there is a lot of algae) There is some grass that you can buy that grows on concrete (we saw a commercial on TV) I figure we need that!

We went to Costco yesterday and got a few things, a couple of bathmats for our bathrooms and a new mop for Lily (the strings are starting to come off). We picked up some good cheese (that is hard to find here) and I got a couple of shorts that were on sale. We drove over to Philo’s last night to listen to the jam, Ross played a bit, boy was the bar ever empty, in high season they have tables in the street! I think there were more musicians than patrons. We had fun though, saw some people we haven’t seen for a while, there was even another washboard player, no one seems to know where he came from and he wasn’t very good, Leon is much better!

Ralph came by yesterday to drop off Ross’s drums from Nelly’s and he brought a 3 cd box set of Juan-Ted and the Amazing Rhythm Roosters, some of the music they have done over the last few months. It is quite amazing!!! They are also going to be playing at Ana Banana’s next Sunday, May 23rd, a day after Pam’s birthday. Ross kinda asked Barry if they could play again when Pam and Derek comes, I guess we will have to wait and see.

We were driving the car on Monday and realized that the blower motor for the air conditioning was not blowing, Yack! It’s hot outside! Ed picked it up on Monday afternoon and we got it back Wednesday afternoon and it’s as good as new, all we need now is to recharge the air conditioning on the car, it’s not very cold.

The pool had been leaking since we put water in it but it seems to have stopped some how?? Ross picked up a bottle of stop leak, yes you read right, stop leak for pools and I think the pool heard us talking about it so it stopped leaking. Go figure, we have had to wrap the hose that goes to the filter with tape (it was leaking) but the rest of the leaking has stopped! That’s what you need to do, just warn the pool you are going to fix it, buy the stuff and then you won’t need it!
A couple of weeks ago Ross bumped into a very large rock outside the office and did a really nasty number on the bumper. A very nasty large dent, which somehow miraculously has un-dented itself, I guess it heard us talk about getting it fixed, like the pool.

We went for a scooter ride in the gated community of flamingos, behind Mega, and found condos for sale for as low as 100,000. We might go back and look around some more, they look really nice and some have a big back yard, which is not common. We had a good time, the weather was not super hot and we needed to go to Mega anyway to get more money on Ross’s phone.

Ross got stopped by the Transito going into Vallarta yesterday, he said that Ross went through a red light, Ross said no, it was flashing Verde (green) which it does when it is about to turn yellow. He wanted to take Ross’s license away from him and Ross kept saying no, take my license plate like everyone else does. They kept discussing if the light was red or not, Ross got out to get the paperwork and the cop asked whose car it was, Ross said it was mine so the cop said don’t do that again and let him go. He didn’t ask for a bribe or anything wow!

We just got back from the Transito office in Mezcales (between here and Vallarta) to get our license plates for our scooters. We had Sue and Alex come with us (Alex is Mexican and was helping us with the translation) we gave the lady a copy of our factura (invoice for the scooters) and we are to call them Tuesday of next week to make sure all is in order then we are to come back with our scooters to get our plates, with of course all our paperwork (copies of our passports, FM3’s, water bill, proof of address). Alex then asked if we could get our drivers licenses also. We need one for the scooters and one for the car but we had to take an exam first. Well since the exam was in Spanish and we really don’t know all the traffic laws here, Alex asked if there was any way we could get our licenses without taking the test, so……………….500 pesos later (slipped under the table) we were getting our pictures taken, our fingerprints taken, asked if we were sick or needed glasses to drive and 1,800 more pesos we both are now proud owners of two drivers licenses.

Only in Mexico! Well I guess that is it for now, we hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise
The pictures are of my 2 new drivers licenses and Yoda with Begal.

Wednesday May 5th to Sunday May 9th, 2010

Well I’ll tell you…………….Wednesday to Friday I didn’t do much, did some cleaning (I got my shelves up for my laundry centre outside) I did a lot of scanning of pictures and just chilled out with the animals. I even cooked all my meals except for 2, a supper where I went out with Harold (Chinese food) and I stopped at Mega for lunch and got some, you guessed it, Chinese! I have been nursing a headache that turned into a migraine for a couple of days too so it was a good thing I was all by myself.

Friday I went to Vallarta to pick up a couple of things that we needed and since I was going past KFC and I had never been there before and because Ross went last night, got a 3 piece dinner for $11, I got a 2 piece dinner with pop, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy for 39 pesos (about $3.50) ha!

Saturday morning I went to Mega for our monthly animal adoption. Today we had 2 full grown cats and one baby kitty from Pet Haven, a place in the valley that takes care of homeless cats. We adopted out OJ the baby to a family with a couple of kids and unfortunately the other two had to go back. They were so cute too, Mia was taken to the vet for something and was never picked up and I can’t remember the story behind the male cat.

I got home around 1:30 and at 2 I got some flowers delivered, they were from Pam for Mother’s day, they are so pretty. I will add the picture when I’m done. I left at 2:30 to pick up Ross from the airport and I was there way too early, there were 5 planes that landed at the same and immigration was a nightmare. They changed the way we come into the country now; we need to fill out a paper just the same as any other person coming into the country and every time something changes in Mexico it takes forever before it becomes second nature! I ended up sitting for a while at a restaurant and I met a really nice couple that were waiting for friends to arrive (they had already been her for a week) and we started chatting. She is a retired CPA and he owned his own business before we sold the company. I gave them my card and told them they can email me anytime if they need something and they actually might buy someday! Wow you sure meet some nice people down here!

Happy Mother’s Day

Ross called his Mum and I talked with Pam for a bit then we drove to Vallarta to get some pool supplies, we needed to pick up more chemicals and we still need to get some of that stop leak stuff cause we are still leaking somewhere. I picked up some flower and herb seeds (I even found a couple of mint plants) and have been researching them tonight on how to grow them and what kind of weather they like the most, believe it or not but most of them grow well in lots of sun! I bought two long flower pots I am going to somehow attach to my bars on the front window, it will look great!

We drove to Liverpool and picked up 3 pairs of shorts for Ross and then went to Chili’s for supper at the mall. Ross got a steak (not terrific) and I picked a chicken dish that was ok, I should have stuck with my fajitas’ they are so good there.

We got home and I found a message from Stacy on our phone, so I called him and we had a good chat. I asked him what he got for Jess and he told me a new bed cover set. I told him he was a great husband, he said “I asked her what she wanted for Mother’s day, she said she wanted a new comforter for her bed, she picked it out, he paid for it and they brought it home”.

We are now catching up with emails and doing the blog………………watched Extreme Makeover……….I love that show.

Well I’m gonna say bye for now, have a great week!

Ross Kim and Critters in Paradise

Tuesday May 4th, 2010

The first 3 pictures are of Little one and Jake the last one is my son Stacy and his puppy Daisy that just graduated from Puppy school!

9 am, I’m at the office, we were promised internet, no internet, (ok I had some for about 10 minutes) but .I had 5 hours of twiddling my thumbs, no foot traffic, Harrumph. BUT… guess what I found a little kitten, he/she(I really need to look to see what it is, I went looking but couldn’t find him/her) was across the street at the bakery and everyone was trying to get it out. I took some cheese from my sandwich, went across the street and got him/her out from under the cooler. I brought him/her across the street gave him/her some water and found him/her sleeping in the corner about an hour later. Since he/she was still there at 2 I scooped him/her up and took him/her home. I walked to the little tienda down the block and got some of that creamed yogurt for him/her to drink.

Tom brought by a lady to see Betsy, our motor home and she seemed really interested. It is 10 years old so she can nationalize her with no problem, I photocopied some documents for her to take back with her to see if it will be ok for her to purchase. We have our fingers crossed.

After Tom left I drove to the vet for some flea/tick medication for the little one and then went to the post office to see if my package from Pam is in yet, it was closed, silly me! I drove to the other vet clinic to see if they had any kitty food, no, so off to Mega I drive, and guess what I found………………..a clothes rack for outside, so you don’t have to buy me one honey! I bought some wet kitty food, and wet food for the other two rascals too, and some dry kitty food.

I got home fed everyone now I’m just chillin’ having a glass of wine and will probably get to bed early as, of course, up early.

Hope everyone had a great day!

Ross and Tara in Vancouver, Kim and Critters plus 1 in Paradise

Monday May 3rd, 2010

As I’m not staying up as late as I normally do, I woke up at 8am kinda sorta not tired, it might be the new dosage of thyroid medication I’m taking now, it was my low thyroid that made me tired, lethargic and not hungry.

I woke to Boingo to my left, Mama Sita to my right and Jake lying by my legs, there was a little blood where Mama Sita was sleeping, probably her period. I get to have 2 sets of clean sheets this week hurray! We were just waking up when I got a phone call from Jean letting me know that the owners of the dogs were just furious that the dogs were missing and threatened to call the police, so Jean and Brus came and picked up the little sweethearts to take them back, oh well, they had 24 hours of comfort.

After talking with Ross and tiding up a bit I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things and while I was out Ed called asking if I was home as he wanted to come and fix Betsy’s mirror, I asked him to come at 4 and he was ok with that. I got what I needed, went home and called Ed to come over and he came by around 5, the mirror is now fixed which is good as people are coming over tomorrow afternoon to look at her.

Not much else is going on, I have now finished 1 whole photo album, and I am digitizing all my photos. Seems like Ross has things handled in Vancouver so I think all is well, I need to get up early tomorrow for work so I’ll say goodnight for now.

Ross in Vancouver Kim and Critters in Paradise

Thursday to Sunday April 29th to May 2nd, 2010

At 9am I opened the office, we switched with Paul and Cheryl so we could go out on the boat with the girls. I drank my tea, tried to get onto the internet (ha ha ha, not) played solitaire, another computer game, twiddled my thumbs, tidied a bit and it was 10 o’clock…! I saw Gina walk into the bakery across the street she said hi I said I need my nails done so she got her coffee and walked over. I had to call her once she got to her shop (30 seconds) to see when I could make an appointment as I forgot to make one the last time I was there, I also asked her if we could show the girls Flash, her sea lion.

She said she could fit me in at 1:15 but ended up coming over around 10:30 with her file saying she had a bit of time before another appointment so she thought she would start my nails, don’t you love Mexico! She said it would be ok for us to see Flash so we are going to go over to her house at around 5. I’ll post pictures. I have been trying to get a hold of the girls to let them know we will pick them up around then but no answer, so it might just be Ross and I, oh well.

We walked the beach outside the Decameron looking for the girls, we ended up going up to their room and no girls, as we were walking out we thought we might walk around the other pool……..we found them. As they were in there suits, we drove back home and picked them up at 5pm to go see Flash, a good time was had by all. Flash lives in a huge area with a salt water pool and a deck, wow!

We drove the girls back again and went out to dinner with Sue and Harold to Ernesto’s good grub! The girls didn’t want to go out as it was Mexican Fiesta night at the resort. We had a great dinner and once home we watched a bit of TV then went to bed as we need to get up fairly early as Ross needed to drive to the Bucerias market in the morning to pick up 6 more glasses for Brett in Edmonton.
Friday morning we woke up about 9ish, Ross had already done his laundry yesterday so he was already packed. We went to the market and got the glasses for Brett then Ross drove to the Decameron to pick up the girls at noon. Ash and Lisa went into the pool a bit before showering ready to hit the airport. Harold came at 2 to pick us up so we all piled into the Escape to drive to the airport.

Once the kisses and hugs and goodbyes were said Harold and I drove to Plaza Caracol in PV (since we were almost there anyway) because he wanted to get a couple of palm trees at Soriana (a grocery store similar to Superstore). We got there but low and behold, no palm trees, they always have palm trees, go figure! I did pick up something for Ross (I can’t say cause then it won’t be a surprise).

Harold drove me home and we decided to meet at 7 to go for supper (since Sue was at a sorority dinner and Ross was gone we decided to go to dinner). I drove over to their house and we drove to this Chinese food place, not great, but the company was good! I got home around 9, watched a bit of TV then off to bed.

Saturday I woke up early for our Amigos meeting at 9:30, could have had a better sleep but oh well! I picked up Sue at her house (Harold didn’t come) and drove to Ixta for a great breakfast and a neighborhood meeting. I got home at 11 and found out that Tara was with Ross going to Vancouver; my heart is now settled again. At the Amigos meeting we all decided to go The Twisted Rose for our dinner night so at about 6 I left the house because I wanted to hit the market before dinner as there was a blouse I saw that I wanted to find out how much they wanted for it, as Saturday is a holiday the market closed early so I never did found out.

I leisurely walked down our Malecon and stopped to talk with Tom (he was warming up, he plays bass at Encore, a jazz band) for a bit, he is coming over Monday morning with another couple in regards to selling Betsy. I finally got to the restaurant 15 minutes early so I grabbed a glass of wine chatted with Hugh, one of the owners, then sat down and waited for Sue, Harold, Mary Carmen and Dick. I got a call from Sue letting me know that Harold was still at the grass fire (he is a volunteer firefighter) and they will probably wouldn’t show up for dinner. So Dick and Mary Carmen and I had a great dinner, I had chicken Alfredo with garlic toast and salad, Mary Carmen had a chicken dinner with salad and Dick had a hamburger without the bun (he is on a diet). We had a great meal and chatted about just about everything. Once home I read for a bit then off to bed.

I got a call on Sunday from Jean Westby (an acquaintance) asking if I could foster 2 poodles until Wednesday when they go get fixed. Mama Sita (of course the mum) and Boingo (that’s what I call the baby, that’s all he does is jump just like he is on a trampoline) are now getting acquainted with my babies, we’ll have to see how this goes. Yoda’s nose is way out of joint as the poodles like to lay in my arms and that’s his spot, and Mama Sita keeps growling at Jake (Jake actually jumps back) when he gets too close.

I made spaghetti for supper and now I’m just chillin’, watching HGTV and the women’s channel, sorry Ross, no discovery channel this week! That is about it for this week, hope everyone had a great weekend!

Kim and Critters with Mama Sita and Boingo in Paradise and Ross in Edmonton/Vancouver