It's my turn now

Yesterday after work I got some unpleasant news about my parents... My dad is been out of a job for a while and looks like their financial situation is very tough... I knew something was wrong but I didn't know exactly how bad it was, until my aunt called me yesterday to tell me the whole story.

I love my parents and they gave so much when I was growing up (and they still do) . I know that I am who I am, and I have what I have mostly because of the quality of life and education that they gave me... Also they are always there for me, and if I was in their same situation I am sure they would not even hesitate to give me their help...

So, as of today I am putting some money aside every paycheck to help them out. I wish I had more and more to give them, but as my brother put it on the phone "great accomplishments begin with the simple decision to try"

My mom and my dad with their 3 dogs

How Sheba came to us...

Our dog Sheba came to us one July afternoon... Here's the whole story.

When we first moved to our new house (that we just finished building) last June 2008, as soon as moved in, this dog from dog the road would break loose from her leash and would come greet us and play around with our dog Ditto (who by the way was not very fond of her at the time).

If she wasn't loose, whenever we used to walk Ditto I would see her there, with out food and water, so I used to carry a bottle of water to refill her bowl and she would go crazy and drink as fast as she could (until I realized that the reason why was because her bowl had a hole so she will try to drink as fast as possible to get all the water) and I will carry treats and give her some...

Then the weather started to get pretty bad cause of hurricane season, we had tropical storm Dolly around and that poor dog spent the whole storm in her little house getting all wet. That's when her situation really started getting to me, I got concerned because I never used to see anybody at the house and I never got to see anybody feeding her or anything.

So, I had a serious talk with my boyfriend (at the time) and told him I wanted to rescue that dog to care for her and make her part of our family. As we both love dogs we had discussed in the past to maybe get a second dog once we were in the new house.

After agreeing to get the dog I started going to the house looking for the owner but never got to talk to them as they were never home. Finally got to talk to some man that lives there and he told me that the dog was his and he was a night guard so he was always sleeping during the day.

A few days went by and one day my boyfriend was walking down the road and a lady called him saying she heard we wanted the dog. Well, looks like the lady really the owner of the dog but was leaving the island for a few years and she rented the house with the dog included! (unbelievable)...

And that is how Sheba came to us and I'm very grateful and happy about having her now.

Sheba's first day and first picture at home

Settling in pretty good...

At the beginning it was tough to get used to both dogs getting along, plus she needed a lot of attention and training. But now she is very settle in and she is great, incredibly loving, protecting, always happy and wanting to play... she is just one of a kind!

Her first swim on the sea... she loves it!

Fancy Shmancy Sheba (goofing around w/a bow)

She is extremely playful and loves that toy (among many others)

getting bigger

Isn't she lovely???

Ditto & Sheba

It's been over a week since I started this blog and I can't believe I haven't post anything about my loving, wonderful dogs.

The first one is Ditto Digsby (aka "monster boy, Ditto boy"), he is a mixed breed mutt that my husband's had for about 8yrs, so when we moved in together in 2007 he said to me that I own 49% and he owns 51% of him.

Ditto and Me at the old apartment

Ditto is a wonderful, loving, good guard, well trained and friendly dog but (and there's always a but...) he has a wild side. Looks like before my husband adopted him from the Humane Society he used to run wild and hunt chicken, iguanas and cats, so if you don't pay attention and he gets off the least he will run like the wind and chase everything he can. He's gotten lost a couple of times, but seems to come back with a still alive chicken that he brings back to redeem himself for the runaway.

Ditto out on the kayak

In 2008 we took him to his first Cayman islands Humane Society Dog Show, and he proved us once again what a great boy he is, winning 3rd place on Best Personality and 1st place on the obstacle curse. Then in 2009 he got 3 place on best trick, way to go Ditto Boy!

We are the champions! 3rd place Best Personality

Ditto was the "king" of the house for many years, so it was little tough last year when we rescued/adopted our other dog Sheba (aka girly girl). For both of them to get used to living with each other was one thing, but for Ditto to learn how to share and cherish another animal sharing our affection and his territory!

Ditto and my husband

Now, they are very happy living together and get alone great... tomorrow I will post a little about Sheba!

Sheba and Ditto sharing the guard dog post

Looking for Inspirational posters?

Ever seen those "inspirational" posters??? Mostly they have one imagine plus a big word like ACHIEVEMENT, SUCCESS, etc... and then a little legend under it?

Well, I've never been too fond of them, alway thought there are kind of cheesy, until I finally found some worth reading and fun... U never know, maybe this is the kind of inspiration and insight we all need.

Here are my favorite ones (from www.thinkgeek.com):



Hope you had as much fun as I did reading them!!! Have a nice day :)

Road to recovery

On December 2006 I was working for a contractors warehouse area of a big hardware store on the island, and while working on a new drill bit display, the guy that was supposed to drill the actual metal display (to hold the drill bits) to the wall didn’t do it properly, so once the display was very full of bits (and very heavy as well), it feel on top of me, knocking me to the floor and while this was happening I had to use my right arm to cover my head.

As you can imagine my arm was very hurt and bruised for a couple of weeks. The same day this happened, just happened to be my last day at this job… go figure! They took me to the hospital and after a very, very long wait at the emergency room they run some x-rays on my arm but since I didn’t have any broken bones they really didn’t do much more tests. Gave me one of those neck things and send me home….

Since then, my shoulder is been extremely tight and painful, but also at the time I used to swim at least 3 times a week so I guess that help contained and release the pain and suffering that my back, shoulder and arm was going through.

Few months passed and I stopped swimming so often, then my pain and suffering came back, but this time with my big thumb on my right hand. Little by little I was just unable to move it several ways, so I decided to start putting “Biofreeze” on it every night to help it… Then I realized it just wasn’t getting better.

Finally a few weeks ago I went to see a massage therapist that I see from time to time, only this time she was not able to give me a full body massage, instead she had to only work on relieving my shoulder and hand. When she saw the state I was in, she recommended that I go seek chiropractic help as she said they pain in my hand and thumb came from my back and shoulder and possibly had some nerve damage as well.

So, I made an appointment with the best chiropractic on the island (recommended by the massage therapist).The first day he did a full back computerize nerve scan and it just unbelievable how a little machine like that can give you so accurate results on how your back and spine is doing.

This is an example of what a nerve scan chart looks like

As you can imagine my results were not good, I have severe nerve damage on the some of my neck and shoulder vertebrae as well as my lower back as a result from my other injuries. Besides the scan (which I really liked as a method to check you status), I like the fact that this doctor does not “crack” your bones, but uses another machine to scan each vertebra and then the machine gives you this little smacks to adjust them…

I have to admit that I’m very happy with my recovery and with just 4 appointments I probably feel about 60% better from my shoulder and over all. I have a lot more energy and besides that the doctor gave me some calcium pills that I need to chew every day to help my muscle recovery and my bones and even for pain!

Besides the calcium, he told me to keep exercising (which I do every day), swimming and he recommended a full body pillow, that I just purchased last night and used it for the first time. I slept great, which means I'm definitely on the road to recovery!!!

New Season, New Flowers

Yesterday after work and in commemoration of the Summer Solstice I decided to plant some new flowers in a big pot I have in my house.

I picked Dahlias after reading that they do well on the tropics
also they flower for a long time.

This pot used to be my Herbs pot
(but most herbs have died, so I re-planted the ones left).
Now I will use this one for flowers.

Here the holes are ready for the seeds

Final result.

Now I only need to wait 16-20 days for the flowers to germinate and then FLOWERS!!!!

Summer Solstice

Yesterday June 21st was the Summer Solstice of 2009...

Sol + stice derives from the Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still". As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky. This days marks the beginning of Summer.

As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year (good thing 'cause I didn't get much sleep last night!). For the Norther Hemisphere this is celebrated in June and for the Southern half their longest summer day is in December (usually around 21-22).

This event is still celebrated around the world, specially in England at Stonehenge and Avebury, where thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

If you'll like to read more information and facts about the Summer Solstice check out this link.

HAPPY SUMMER TO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE!

Dia Del Padre

Today is Father's Day in the Cayman Island (where I live) as well as in Costa Rica (where I'm from).

The last time I saw my two fathers was on my Wedding Day (May 2nd, 2009) and it's really the only one time (that I remember), I held both of their hands at the same time... just before they "gave" me to my new husband.

So today, I want to dedicate this post to my two Father that I LOVE SO MUCH, and to the rest of the Dads in the world as well, HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!

#24 Petunia Cl

Since I can't really come up with anything to write today, I'm just to post some random pictures from around my house. (The house, plants, my dogs...)

Our street sign

Our House

The Sun

Sea Shells and Lizard

Our Dogs; Sheba (the light one) and Ditto (the black one)

Plant

Our Orchid in bloom

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYBODY!!!!

T.G.I.F.

I think the picture pretty much says it all... It's been a very busy well, it is not quite over yet because I have to work tomorrow as Sunday is Father's Day and we are expecting tomorrow to be a busy day of people buying some presents from our store/gallery.

Also, I've almost survived a whole week of blogging, so yey for me! I hope this will be the beginning of a very nice thing... HAPPY FRIDAY TO ALL!!!

All about work...

When you live on a Caribbean island or just any kind of vacation destination, people tend to think that all we do is go to the beach, lounge around, catch some rays, dive, read books on a hammock... and although I try to do that as much of that as I can... I also have a real job, with a real boss, responsibilities, deadlines, ordering products, doing inventory, etc, etc, etc.... Yeah, really I do!



But even though I have a real job, I think my job is definitely better that most. I am the Art Directory of a Gallery own by a local artist, Guy Harvey.

To give you a little background about my boss;
Guy Harvey is a unique blend of artist, scientist (with a Phd on Marine Biology-Fish Anatomy), diver, angler, explorer and conservationist.


Mr. Harvey natural talent and ability to recreate mainly marine life, has giving him the opportunity to combine his love for the ocean with research and conservation efforts to preserve it as well as many species, specially the bill fish (ie. marlin, sailfish, swordfish).

In 1999 in collaboration with the NOVA Southeastern University in FL he founded the Guy Harvey Research Inst. and in 2008 he also founded the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, a non-profit organization to preserve the oceans and its species.

For more information about Guy Harvey, his art and even his organizations, visit www.guyharvey.com

New Gadget

Yesterday evening my husband surprised me with a brand new Creative Zen X-Fi player. It is sort of like an Ipod but according to the reviews much better... You can listen to MP3s, watch videos, store pictures, chat online with friend and maybe even more, I just haven't had enough time to figure it all out. Last night I uploaded a bunch of song on it and then went to bed and I thought "maybe I'll just listen to one song"... half an hour later I was still listening! The quality of the player is excellent and I'm very happy that I got this little gadget. Thank you babe!!!

Island Living

Since I was a little girl I always wanted to live on an island, I love the ocean and nature and my dream was to live close to it. Being born and raised in CR you are usually in contact with nature and the ocean but Costa Rica is not an island.

Then life took me to several different places (Italy, Israel, Mexico) but never an island.

Until finally in 2005, life took care of my dream and brought me to the Cayman Islands... First I lived in the island of Cayman Brac for about 2 years and I loved it. A few months later that's where I meet my "lobster", fell in love and eventually moved to Grand Cayman to live close to him. I took me a while to get used to living here coming from Cayman Brac that is so small, relaxing and the feeling of community is very strong (since you meet pretty much the whole island population in a couple of months)...

Now I live here in Grand Cayman, it is a very nice island, a melting pot of cultures and with many differente activities and interests for pretty much everybody. Of course there are things that it doesn't have, like mountains (which by the way I really like and miss from my home country), rivers and snow (Thank God for that)... but we do have the amazing and beautiful Carribean Sea surrounding us with wonderful coral reefs and fishes. Unfortunately from time to time we also get visited by Hurricanes... but oh well, can't expect everything to be perfect, right?

Here's an aerial picture of the area of West Bay (where I live) that I took coming back from Florida last January. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth II

Today is a National Holiday on the Cayman Islands (where I live)...

HRH Queen Elizabeth II is not only the Queen of the UK but also the Head of the Commonwealth and is thus the Head of State in many other nations, nearly all of whom celebrate her status in some form or other.

One of the ways is to celebrate her birthday, either on the date of her birth, or through an "official birthday".

HRH Queen Elizabeth II was actually born on 21st April 1926, in London, the daughter of Prince Albert, Duke of York and The Duchess of York, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her father became King George VI in December 1936 upon the abdication of his elder brother, King Edward VIII.

Queen Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne on the death of her father on 6th February 1952 and (as of January 2007) is the fourth longest reigning living Monarch in the world.

In a number of countries the Queen’s Birthday is celebrated as a Public Holiday on various other dates. For example; the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar celebrates the Queen's Birthday on the third Monday in June.

In all cases, the only "official" action which usually takes place on this day is the release of the names, under the Queen’s Birthday Honours system, of those citizens being honoured.

To me, the best way to celebrate her birthday is definitely with a Public Holiday, so Happy (non official) Birthday to you, Majesty.

To blog or not to blog...

Today, I'm sitting here in front of my computer writing my first blog entry (and boy, am I so glad this text editor has spelling check). Blogging is never something that occurred to me (since I was a little girl I always wanted to keep a diary but I was always too lazy to keep it up). Then, I started noticing and reading more and more blogs on the internet and found it to be very interesting how so many people have the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the world in their own unique way. Finally this past weekend I stumble upon a movie that talks about scrap booking, so then I thought about maybe getting into that, but then I think it would be just like the diaries when I was young. Finally I made up my mind and decided to give blogging a try, hope I don't disappoint myself with it. So, if you are reading this, Welcome to my blog!