gone...

I am not here right now.

I am more like, here...

Thanks to scheduled post, while you are reading this I am on my way to Costa Rica...

Meanwhile have yourself a wonderful weekend, if not I will have one for ya'!

All set

Tomorrow we are leaving to Costa Rica, I am so excited to see my Mom, Dad and the rest of the family, but also I can't wait to see the dogs (one of the 3 they have at the house is mine) and my mom's cat Lea.

It's going to be so good to leave even if it's just for 5 days.

I really need to disconnect from work but also I feel like I have a little bit of island fever, so Costa Rica it's the best medicine for that! Also last time I went away with my husband was back in October (for work), so that makes a BIG difference.

So, got my tickets, got some $$$, got my Mom's 60 presents for her 60th birthday, so I'm all set...

BTW, don't know how much internet access I will have, last time I was home my parents had dial up, yeap, you heard me right, DIAL UP internet connection, so dreaming of a fast connection wasn't even an option, now it looks like they finally have dsl or something comparable, but I still don't think I will be posting much, I do promise lots of pictures and then share them via my blog...

Until then, here's a nice little video I found on Youtube about Costa Rica, the girl narrating I think is kind of hard to understand at time cause of her accent... anyway, hope you like it and this gives you an idea of what my lovely country is all about...

BTW, the last part about investing in CR is because this is a video made by the Chamber of Commerce, if you don't have $$$ to invest, just invest in a visit!!!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Say it with a cat...

Wut? Are you tellin' me it's only Wednesday???

Happy Hump Day : )

Late Post

Don't have much to post about today.

The weather is beautiful on our part of the world.

Of course it's only Tuesday so I am stuck inside working, but I do have to admit I'd rather be out there instead, it's bright, sunny, hot and maybe even sticky if you decide to have an ice cream and it ends up melting on you, unless you are faster at licking it, LOL!

So, here's a little video to prove that I am not making this stuff up, of course I can't really prove the ice cream part unless you come down to George town, buy me one and then I conduct the experiment and prove it, what da'ya think? Sounds like a plan to me...

We had 5 cruise ships in port today, on the video you can only see 4, one on the side and 3 in a row but the resolution it's not good enough for you to see them well, the other one was far, far away on the horizon by the time I took this video, enjoy!

Have a great rest of your Tuesday!

Times change

It's amazing how much (and sometimes how fast) times change. 

Once upon a cigarette, smoking was hip, cool and maybe even "good for ya"... The fact that there were advertising like the following one, seems so unreal now a days...

Also that you were encouraged to share the "Christmas Spirit" with cigarettes; endorsed by no other than Ronald Reagan. Here's the former US president advertising a very special Christmas-Card carton that was THE THING to buy for all those you care for... plus no unpleasant after-taste, LOL!

Times have definitely changed and in some cases for better but in other cases, not sure...

In many cases the planet is the one that has suffer (and is still is) the many changes, otherwise ask the New York territory. 

Crazy how times, things, places and even people change... Now, if only there was a way to change weekends so they were longer, LOL!

Have a wonderful week!

R.A.I.N.

Rejoice

All

In

Nature

It's finally raining for the first time probably in the whole year 2010. Our little island is being so dry, plants needed it so bad, that I am sure that today they must feel like dancing. We've been having to water them every other day to keep them alive.

I wonder if plants get the feeling of thirst? If after a while of not having any water, when it finally rains they feel just like we do when we are extremely thirsty and then we finally drink a glass a water, ahhhh that feels so good!

So today, I am grateful for the rain and for the plants and animals that I am sure are rejoicing in it because of how dry everything was... But also it's Saturday and I have to work because my manager is still away so I am the "manager on duty". So I am even grateful for that, considering next week at this time I will be in Costa Rica... I do have to admit that today's weather makes me feel like staying home, cuddling in bed with my husband, anywhoo...

Have a wonderful weekened!

Flower Power Friday

Every time I see an amazing display in nature can't help but thank God for such beauty that not only decorates our life but also brings joy to our souls.

Today I am not talking about a flower but a whole tree full of them, full of color and the best part of it is, that is just around the corner from my house.

Isn't it beautiful? These trees are all over the island and blooming to the fullest, such beauty should remind us of how lucky we are and how important is the preserve nature.

Have a wonderful weekend!

the tip of the iceberg

Yesterday was supposed to be one of two days of the week to get physiotherapy for my arm.

I am still in pain, at this point I suspect everything is affecting my recovery; stress makes it worst, computer typing definitely aggravates it, sleeping on my right side is out of the question and I'm starting to think that even certain bras affected it too!

The worst part at this point is that I've been going to physio for a few weeks now and if somebody asks me how I feel after this process of "recovery" -insert sarcastic tone here- started, I will have to go with probably I feel worse. At some point I guess I felt better but lately cause of stress and a lot of arm activities (cause of working at a gallery) have definitely set me back a bit.

So, what's with the tip of the iceberg?

Like I said before, after weeks of physio, the therapist I'm seeing at the hospital, at time is extremely rude to me, she makes me feel like it's an inconvenience for her to take care of me, and to top it all, yesterday I showed up for my 8am appointment (after sorting out the schedule at work to be able to make it) and the receptionists tells me the therapist changed schedules so she doesn't work until 9am, say whaaaaat????

I don't even wanna try to describe the feelings I got from the situation, but oh well I guess this is expected when you use public health and go through your insurance. Still, she has no right to be this way, of course I called the supervisor and complained, about her attitude and specially what happened yesterday, the supervisor apologized saying they had a computer glitch (yeah right, always the computer excuse) and that they tried to notify everybody and I guess they forgot to call me, a whole week she had to do that, I guess maybe this therapist has way to many patients to keep track, or just plain she doesn't give a rats behind!

I hate it when people make me waste time, I got up earlier than usual, left the house on time and like I mentioned before arranged everything so there was somebody at work to open the store and all for nothing... Hope today when they re schedule my appointment she doesn't chop my arm or something, wish me luck!

Have a great day!!!!

Say it with a cat...

Find happiness in anything that you do today... 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Be right there...

Well, not much to write about today... just like I suspected yesterday, I am in for a very busy week, what keeps me going is the fact that I am less than 2 weeks away to go back to Costa Rica and spend time with my parents.
As I mentioned before, my Mom is turning 60 on the 25th of April and my Dad's birthday is the next day, the 26. So, those are the main reasons why we are going. But now there's another (not so pleasant) reason, this past Saturday my Mom went out for a jog and fell, she broke her right ankle and her left shoulder, ouch!
Now she has a cast on her leg and a shoulder immobilizer,  she has to go back to the Doctor in about a week to make sure she is not going to be needing surgery to correct the shoulder part, hopefully she wont.

 Me & Mom in 2004

I can't wait to go home, give her a hug and the 60 presents I already got for her, how exciting... meanwhile I am here busy bee!

It's a dog day....

The weekend was pretty fun, on Friday while doing some grocery shopping I noticed a signed about a Kiwanis annual Dog Walk which was going on Sunday morning, and I thought: (insert sarcastic tone of voice here first) "what a great way to start the day at 6:30 am, specially on a Sunday"....

But then for real I thought, our dogs would love it... So I mentioned it to my husband and he said: YOU want to wake up early on Sunday? So I said, yeah maybe I do, cause I know the dogs would have a blast.

And guess what, we made it to the walk... Got up in time and had a wonderful time, here is the proof.

getting ready to start the walk

 

but not without the proper good morning greetings!

after walking for a while...

 

for Sheba it's time to cool off, before the rest of the crowd arrives

Like in every story there are two sides of the story, so please visit my husband's blog to read more about the wonderful time we had with the dogs...

In other news:
My bosses from FL arrive today and my manager's dad passed away on Saturday, so she is leaving to Canada tomorrow for a week, so I know it's going to be busy week for me...  Have a great day!!!

"Flower Power" Friday

Have a wonderful Weekend!!!!

Save the Whales!

I received this article by email a few days ago, I found it to be very inspiring and kind of true, once again it shows the misconception some people have about what real beauty is.

To me it's all about thinking of our bodies as temples of our soul and not as temples of beauty. Plus beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the most important things in life can't be seen or touched, so that says it all, right????

****************************

Recently, in a French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:
THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE? A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia.

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?

They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they do not have kids either.

Plus, who wants to get close to a girl who's skin is all scaly and smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me...
I want to be a whale!!!

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my grandkids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a latte with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am"!

 Have a wonderful day!!!

Precious seconds

This morning while driving into work on one of the main roads on the island (West Bay Road), the 3rd car in front of me started to break as if they were ready to turn, but to my amazement instead of stopping to take a turn, the driver stopped to give right of to way a momma chicken with 6 little chicks.

Thanks to this driver, the group managed to cross a two way road and make it safe to the other side making those seconds we waited for them to cross just precious.

I was such a delight to be able to witness that there's still kindness towards animals in this busy lives we live and specially to witness such a wonderful event in a place like West Bay Road, many times when I drive on this road I see a lot of death animals (specially chickens and iguanas), and that makes me very sad.

So today I am happy to say that it was a great beginning of my day and to that driver that gave the right of way, thanks for caring and showing that some of us are capable of amazing kindness towards all creatures!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Update galore

Like I mentioned yesterday, April is already here so this marks the beginning of month #4 for 2010.

So, let's recap shall we? On January 1st of this year, I posted about my new year resolutions, in case you didn't read that particular post or you were not familiar with my blog, here's a little reminder of what I had in mind at the time:

1. Keeping my #1 resolution of last year and be thankful for it too! (Resolution was to be thankful!)
2. Continue exercising at least 3 times a week.
3. Be more patient.
4. Surround myself with positive, good energy people!
5. I still want to volunteer for something- I already have something in mind.
6. Be more creative and get back to basics with my art.
7. Go to the beach with my husband at least one night a week.
8. Read a new book every month.
9. Take a vacation away from the island.
10. Keep at least one resolution during the whole year.

And so far here's the update on how I'm doing:

1. I am in fact good at being thankful, I've come to realize that whenever I am thankful for a simple task or even a very hard ones (those that seem impossible at times), once I realized that I can be thankful for it, it complete changes my view and approach towards it. I am giving me a 9 out of 10 on this one.
2. I have to admit that with my arm situation and all I've been very lazy lately, even put on a few pounds, but as of this week (actually Sat). I am back on the exercise wagon. 6 out 10 because it's too early to call it a victory.
3. Patience, oh my dear patience, where are you in times of need??? I guess I am doing o.k. but in this arena there's always room for improvement (specially with annoying customers, LOL!). 8 out of 10.
4. This one is a hard cause there are many vampires out there to get you and suck out your positive energy, but still since the management at work changed, I believe this helped me achieve this task easier, still got to work on it daily, cause u just never know who you gonna run into, right? 8 out of 10.
5. I am seriously trying to volunteer but it's been so difficult, lost of paper work, police clearance, etc. I have a charity in mind and I'm sticking to it, I hope to be successful before the end of the year. 5 out of 10 cause I feel I'm not doing much progress on it.
6. I am trying to be more creative, I've painted a few little canvases and did some stuff to add to my moms pile of gifts. 7 out of 10.
7. So far we've been to the beach more than usual, but when we used to live at the apartment we would go EVERY weekend and sometimes even both days of the weekend. 5 out of 10 because a must improvement is needed.  
8. Read a new book every month. Well, I am proud to announce that I started my 4th book this past weekend, everything I've read so far is very particular and I can't wait to add more books to my list, any suggestions??? 10 of 10 (so far!).
9. Vacation time is coming (well at least on my mind it is, and that's the first place to begin at). My husbands birthday is in July so we want to go to Mexico and visit the Yucatan where I lived for 3 yrs, it's a beautiful area, I still have lots of friends there and besides going back to see such a special place I am looking forward to share it with the most special person in my life, can't wait. 9 out of 10 cause it's still just a plan.
10. Well, I guess I'm right on track about keeping at least 1 resolution during the whole year, so far. (See #8). I'm giving me a 10 out of 10.

So that's it, my resolutions update. I feel pretty good about a few and not so good about others, but like I mentioned before, there's always room for improvement and we are only in month #4 out of 12 so I have a good way to go, otherwise there's always next year!

Greetings April...

It's hard to believe you are here already, it feels like it was just yesterday when we celebrated Christmas and then when I turned 33, but oh well, dunno if it's days are moving faster or my memory is getting shorter!

This past weekend was very nice, it was a 3 day weekend, haven't had one of those in a very, very long time, can't even remember when was the last time.

Like I mentioned before, my friend from high school Maria Fernanda and her boyfriend (with his family) were here visiting for a week, they left Saturday afternoon but not without having our last lunch together, I hope it's not going to be another 15 years until I see her again.

Sunday we took the dogs to the beach and they had a great time. It's funny how different they behave at the beach, Ditto is a total Beach Bum, he has it down to a science, it's like he has a PHD in "chillaxing" at the beach, we lived about 2 blocks from the beach before and he used to go more than once a week, so I guess we can call him a "beach expert"!

Sheba on the other hand, takes a while to get relaxed and when she sees any of us going into the sea, she gets really worked out and even cries a little... After a while there, she was able to just "chill".

After we came back home, we gave both dogs a bath (like we always do after they've been on the sea), the afternoon was beautiful and specially on our back deck; flowers are blooming, birds are bathing and it's the end of another wonderful weekend!

 Have a wonderful week!

"Flower Power" Friday

Today, on this beautiful and sunny Friday morning I am going to share yet another wonderful gift from nature decorating our back porch

 

This is another Orchid, a wild species native of our neighbor island Jamaica. I guess because we have very similar weather than in Jamaica this one particular Orchid has bloom many times before... isn't it beautiful???

Happy Eastern and blessings to all!!!!

Blessed Weekend

The weekend is here, it's Easter Weekend so we are not open tomorrow Friday (at work), my usual days off are Saturday and Sunday, so it's a 3 day weekend for me!!!

I know for many people around the world Easter is a very important religious celebration and even though I was raised Catholic I don't practice this religion as to go to church, but by all means I believe in God, he is the most important of everything I am and everything I have.

But like I said before, I was raised Catholic and during my life I been fortunate to interact with people that practice different religions or just have other believes/faiths, this helped me appreciate and respect them, even if they don't apply to my concepts of faith and spirituality.

Just the other day I hear somebody say  "going to church doesn't make you religious anymore than standing in a garage makes you car", a lot of people now a days go to church, act all good inside the temple and then is a COMPLETELY different story, what's the point of that? dunno...


So whatever your beliefs are, may those be genuine and that this few days are celebrated and enjoyed with the spirit of your believes guiding you to strike a better yourself but mostly to act better towards other living  beings...

In my case, I will try to be present in all, thankful for what I have, always being provided by God. Although my next choice will be... 

But before I starting enjoying my 3 days off, here's my one advice for the weekend...

Happy Easter!!!

got mail

Back in the 90's when I was in high school I lived in upstate NY for a few months.

One of my most vivid and special memories of my time there, was in the morning walking to the mail box (in the freezing snowy weather most of the time) and retrieve the mail. Always looking forward and hoping to receive a letter from my family or my friends back home.

I love getting letters, they make me feel so special and connected to whoever send them to me, just thinking that somebody had taken time from their day to write to you, tell you about their life and make you feel part of it even if you are far away.

But now, times have changed. The regular written mail has been replaced by the famous email and in some cases (even mine as well) replaced by facebook, tweeter (for some, but not me!), my space, blog or any other cyberspace way to communicate.

In my case, I still use the mail quite a bit, in fact I am always sending my parents little presents via air mail, they send me stuff all the time as well; every 2nd day of the month they send me a 1/2 kilo of my favorite coffee, can't live without my Costarican coffee! Sometimes when I tell this to people they appeared so amazed by the news that regular "snail" mail is still around, but I think mostly they are amazed about the fact that I use it, weird!

So yesterday I got a wonderful flashback of my time in NY back in the 90's, and that's the feeling of excitement and happiness when you open your postal box and you get mail. I got a lovely package in the mail from a fellow blogger, I feel very thankful and fortunate for her beautiful gift but mostly her kind words.

Besides saying Thank you for such a wonderful and special package you sent me, I have to add that if ever I had doubts about starting this blog, sometimes have feelings that I don't have enough inspiration or if by sharing my life and experiences with others through this blog are making a difference in anybody else life (but mine), yesterday's package confirm to me that this blog is not only enjoyable to me but one more blessing in my life, just by being able to connect with people as special as you.

source www.stevebloom.com

Full Moon

Tonight is Full Moon so in honor of this monthly astronomical event I am sharing one of my favorite EE Cummings poems.

who knows if the moon's
a balloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky--filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should

get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we'd go up higher with all the pretty people

than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody's ever visited,where

always it's
Spring)and everyone's
in love and flowers pick themselves 

ee cummings