I am sure I should be coming up with some humorous post about wind ups and April Fool but you know what? I have nothing. Zilch. Nada. Ah yes I disappoint yet again. I just read a few of Tuesday's UK newspapers on line and saw a few stories which I thought looked a tad suspicious......we'll see.
I actually know someone who got married on April Fool's day.... should have maybe been a sign - it didn't last.
However read this tonight..... AFF and she really pulled it off very well....I think it should be her latest post....let me see....
http://anglophilefootballfanatic.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/i-pity-the-fool/
if you have time to read it and especially if you're a wife/mum you'll laugh. Her husband's part is classic.
So any great wind ups? Let me know....if I get them early enough from some parts of the world I may be able to recycle them out here (although I always get the feeling it's not such a big deal in USA) ???
Cannot believe it is April already.
It feels like it was weeks ago that we went on our hols - hell - I am almost caught up on all the laundry....I suppose there is so much other stuff going on right now that it just seems so long ago.
But I downloaded tonnes of photos and wanted to share a few...and if i can't decide which ones it may be quite a lot.
As you may know we went out to Playa del Carmen about an hour from Cancun in Mexico. We rented the exact house we had last year - handy as we then knew what we were getting. There was a maid who came every other day and a pool guy and a garden guy but we didn't have a nanny or a cook (that sounds so ridiculous - I mean its not like we have those ever)....so it was a bit like being away from home but not.
Last year a 'friend' had said to me - shortly before we headed off, 'Ooh, I so wouldn't stay in a house - it's just not a vacation with still having to do everything - you just have to stay in a hotel.' Up until then I had so been looking forward to it and she wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know.....
I had expalined about where we'd stayed to a friend and she and her family booked to go overlapping our week there. The rented a huge huge house and had a private chef prepare every meal for them. It was great - we went over one night for dinner - but they didn't have a lot of privacy with all the chefs etc (there were 15 of them staying there - family not chefs) and it was not something I would have wanted.
Someone asked whether it was a beach holiday - yes and no.
We went on the beach a fair bit - I actually preferred it but there was more chance of the younger ones running off. The house had an excellent pool - private,safe, shady in areas, a bar you can sit at whilst still in the pool - a jacuzzi - so we spent a lot of time at the pool. A lot.
This is Bee and Paddy woofing down pop ices or something, the shirts - well we learnt after last year that you really need to take care - it is quite breezy so you don't feel yourself burn so much........and the 'cave like' rocks gave us all the privacy we needed from others......
And this is Mac in his 'Superhero Lifesaver' as he called it. He can just about swim but not well enough for us to take our eyes off him for a minute - so this came in handy. As you can tell this is a really shallow end.
Unfortunately hubby doesn't tan at all but I do..and during Rory's nap time I would go on the roof and read/sunbathe. This was some of the view...
So you could see the sea..
and the people who were skydiving - not tempted to give that a try.
The thatched roof was our treehouse which had a steep ladder to get to it but was really nice with lights and a fan inside. The older two were allowed up there for reading (more often playing Nintendos). The owners of this house have really used all the space to their advantage.
We also had a really beautiful and kid friendly beach a 3 minute walk away. We had no buckets or spades even but the kids did really well withjust playing and going in the sea - but we didn't really swim in the sea if the truth be told.
Of course seeing as I had that cool photo from last year (un-posed I may add) of the 3 old ones running, I really wanted one of them all this year. But of course the best laid plans etc - it was really hard to get anything as good. But we had this one with most of us looking in the right direction...
Oh and this one had a story to it. Mid week we were on the beach and I was doing a bit of a David Bailey (I wish) and trying to get a shot of all the kids etc and walking along, not looking where I was going I fell into this hole. No broken bones but a lost flip flop that I could not find at all - the sand covered it almost immediately. So the kids had to 'search' for it..
We did a fair bit of walking with the beach and then going into town. it was a good 30 minutes each way, in the heat...lots of bribes with Starbucks and ice-creams. Oh and unfortunately we had to pass a MacDonalds each time (is there no escape?) and Mac is a huge fan of MickeyDs. We caved once - he would have preferred more. Sometimes he just sat refusing to move from there.....
I mean seriously - he looks like he is really desparate doesn't he?
Hubby and I went out one night... I can't believe how red I look here...
We had a British sitter we had used last year too - a Scouser - wow it was great to hear a real accent again!!
Chicago don Jose if you ever get there......
other things worth a mention
see this lovely hand carved door? This was Rory's room. And one nap time he decided he didn'tt want to sleep...jumped out of his travel crib and in trying to open the door, accidentally locked it. Mmm. There was the sliding door from his room to the pool but hubby had been so paranoid about the kids' rooms leading onto the pool , he had made the pool guy put rods in the base of the sliding door so you had to remove these before you could actually open the door. So we spent a good 20 mins with Rory inside the glass sliding door and us outside near the pool trying to persuade him to life the pole so we could open the door. So many times he lifted it then it fell back down...but he did it in the end.
As you can
see, Rory was
really impressed.
The sun really seemed to make Rory's hair grow......
And amazingly we all made it back home in one peace - even this guitar... which is a miracle in itself given how he handled it the last day.
No burros
No sombreros this year - unless you count the tiny one Paddy schlepped back for one of his soft toys.
Adios.
G'day Sydney (or there abouts). not sure who you are but appreciate the hits
:)
He sits at his laptop, shut off in his office.
The tv is on - some football game.
This is considered being home - family time, whatever you may call it.
But if we go in to chat or ask a question the look is given.....why are we disturbing him?
He is doing important things don't you know.
Yeah right.
But his screen is not turned around fully.
We are checking Charles Scwab for the millionth time today, or looking at more gadgets to buy.
Loading films onto iPods,,,, yeah, really busy.
There are empty cups and bowls too - all from today - they can remain.
Books lie around - and newspapers too.
Seems we don;t quite live in a paperless society after all.
I may get a shout should he need any paperwork finding - as I did as I was packing the night before our holidays.
Needing the tax forms for the mortgage, the property taxes - all last minute of course.
But still I drop everything and go to look in my files.
There is talk of an house extension or a remodel as they say out here.
I do not want it - I am in denial.
He teases me with my having an office.
I doubt it very much.
If it would make me as disconnected from the kids as his appears to do - then I wouldn't want it anyhow.
Sorry for myself?
No not really.
Just a normal Sunday at home.
Wow. I have been listening to UK radio a lot since being house bound (looking after Bee - she is doing ok, thanks - bit of a temp but she has eaten a little today), and have heard the horror stories of Heathrow's terminal 5 chaos on the news. I think it was just put into perspective for me when I saw this photo on the BBC website.
Now it has been many many years since I have cared about matching luggage and the like (and discovered hard cases are not all they're cracked up to be as they weight a fair bit even empty and they aren't as manageable for overstuffing things in packing). At one stage I had a bright yellow case which was rare and easily spotable but also easily spotable when you were on the plane and saw the baggage handlers throw it/drop it/kick it. No idea what ever happened to that case....
But I have had a few cases lost over the years - often a cause of too tight connections....our bags at honeymoon turned up in Maui 48 hrs after we did....and a few times the bags have been couriered to us later in the day when we've flown home from UK. But I feel sorry for anyone whose bag is lost at Heathrow right now. And I am grateful I am not having to go anywhere near Heathrow in the future (not my fave place to begin with), and as for BA....don't even get me started...............
.Here are some of our bags from last week - checking in at the airport....
And then waiting and waiting some more at the Hertz place in Cancun. Big black bag has a car seat in, there were 2 of the big red black ones and then a red Graco tavel crib. And he still wasn't happy not to be travelling light!!!!
4 hrs there....a little ouch as the IV was pulled out...they were kind enough to wait until she was under before they put it in at least.... the anesthesiologist had a good SOH - he offered her flavours for her to sniff with the gas/whatever knocks them out - the choices were strawberry, bubble gum, cabbage or dog breath......
Before they took her back they asked her if she wanted me to go back with her...she said yes....not 'cos she was scared but she knew I would have to wear this ridiculous outfit....
And even though I am all gowned up. they didn't make me put those disposable bootie things on my boots...?
Here we are in our matching hair nets...
As she came round she was woozy but ok. She loved the popsicles they gave her...she was keen to bring her hair net, home and my silly space suit - all to be used on Vet Surgery practise.
This was the bit she was the most excited about....
So she is in bed here at home. Watching DVDs on a portable player, eating popsicles galore and waiting for her next dose of Tylenol with the Vicodin (?) solution.
So far so good.
I'll keep you posted.
Mexico seems way more than 2 days ago.
Oh and thanks to all my real blogging friends who sent us good wishes. Much much appreciated.
So....getting back to normal after being away but also gearing ourselves up for tomorrow when Bee goes in for surgery ...tonsillectomy is the correct term I believe. It is out patient surgery....we'll get there around 9am providing the traffic/parking is ok and the op is around 10.30 with the Dr who....yes, may well be highly recommended but has the beside manner of a newt....maybe he'll surprise us tomorrow. i think we will be home by lunchtime-ish and then we have the recovery.
A few friends have recently had this procedure with their daughters of similar age. They both said that whilst the surgery itself was a breeze, the recovery was a nightmare. I am loaded up on juices, popsicles, ice creams and apple sauce - oh and yoghurts although I read dairy can be a bit iffy. Bee is doing ok with the idea of it. when I filled in her medical questionnaire on line I asked if they could put her IV in after she goes under but I doubt they'll do that... we'll see.
I have not been to tomorrow's hospital before....when Mac had both his eye surgeries it was at a different place....but the anesthetic should work out the same - I hope - but I am going to be extra nice if anyone calls tonight - when Mac's pediatric anesthesiologist called me the night before his op I thought he was a salesman and I was a little brusque to say the least.
I think it may well be harder with a questionning 10 year old to get the prep work done than it was with a helpless 18 mth/ 26 mth old.
But if you believe in God, say a prayer for us tomorrow and if you don't then just keep everything crossed. I know compared to a lot of blogging issues/health worries this is really diddly squat....but we are still a little worried nontheless.
Just in case it wasn't OBVIOUS
I am now back home in good old USofA y'all.....
Honestly..............
On the plane back from Cancun...a 4 hr flight....but I love flying back into our airport here.......
So yesterday was this......
And today is this......
Got back tonight with minimal fuss. Door to door it was 10 hours and few delays. Very late but just needed a bit of me time without kids etc so have been reading (surfing the net). One of the flight attendants got it in a nutshell as we boarded the flight this afternoon:
'Do you now need a vacation from your vacation?' - Mmmm actually yes. I know hubby is very much looking forward to going back to his quiet office on the 53th floor tomorrow.
Will write in detail on the hols later but here are some snippets before I head to my own bed (bliss).
1. Mexicans have a very different idea on safety. Very different. When we arrived to pick up our previously confirmed minivan/people carrier vehicle they said they had non left. Tried to fob us off with a 'big car.' We asked if it would have enough room for 4 kids - Si, si....they said - so we asked if it had 2 rows of seats....non. non... they said....so we asked how we vould get 2 car seats in and two other kids ......lots of gobbled Spanish and rolled eyes and they realised we actually wanted seatbelts in the cars for our kids (well it is only a 1 hr drive from Cancun to Playa....). Ended up having to get a car each - so driving in Mexico can now be added to my CV.
2. If you see Mexican Police car with flashing lights following you do not swear out loud necessarily. They just want to pass and get home for their tea/tequilla/whatever.
3. Bee could not understand how hubby's basic hire car had windows but no way to open them. She had never seen a manual crank (?) to wind windows down.....she was amazed.
4. Lots of hard selling for tours etc this year - way more so than last year. Even at the Supermarket....and a lot of the time they ask you where you're from to try and get chatty with you. When hubby announced he was from England, the man just said 'Ah so THATS why you are white!' This was probably day 3. He is still white. I laughed a lot. Too much it seems. Another guy selling a cruise said he had indeed lived in 'Crawley England!' Not sure if that was supposed to make us want to buy the cruise or say 'poor you!'
5. Mac took it upon himself to shout 'Hola!' to almost every non Mexican person there. He could not understand why some did not reply.
6. As much as I may love Coconut flavoured yoghurts...which they sold there, and I have never seen here...you can eat TOO MANY of them.
7. Not taking off your silver bangles and forgetting to put your handbag in the X ray machine at the airport will get you looks of despair from your hubby.
8. Guessing what Spanish may be for 'mild' when you are picking out a salsa dip in the supermarket is really not advisable (but it was funny watching hubby find out)
9. We may have been allowed 12 bags to check in...but even if we only checked in 4 (one was a travel crib, one was a car seat) and one is 2 lbs over the weight limit...even though the others are no where near their weight limit they still make you undo the bags etc and change stuff around.
10. A mile into your journey to the airport is probably not the best time to pull over and have your hubby drive up beside you, have him lean over and manually crank down the passenger window..so you can ask him if he picked up the DVDs. Doesn't go down well.
11. Even though it was probably meant as a compliment, having hubby say the following doesn't make you feel good:
"I was walking back and I saw this woman in the street in a bikini top and I thought she looked bloody good - and then I realised it was actually you!"
12. You can tell the kids that you aren't going to go souvenir shopping until the last day - sure it'll buy you some time. But you can show your 4 year old all the Mexican tack souvenirs you can find but if he really wants a Spiderman mask with attached cape there is very little you can do to persuade him this is the lamest thing you could ever possibly buy.
13. If you see hubby staring at flight attendant for a little too long when she is explaining the saftely routes etc, just lean over and tell your 4 yr old (sat next to hubby on other side of the aisle) that the button to recline his seat is actually the rocket turbo boost button to make the plane take off..and that said 4 year old is in charge of the plane going into the sky....and that if he is not sure when to push it....just ask daddy....for the next - oooh, it must have been a good 10 minutes we were sat on the runway before we went to taxi......
14. I could very well imagine being one of the older people who retires down there........
OK, seeing as it is now past midnight and we leave today...I finally got the inclination to get on with the packing. Not too much at all really (she says) and hubby and I haven't even fallen out about the weight of the bags yet - probably because they are still up in our room where I packed them and he hasn't carried them down the stairs yet.
Rory managed to fall at dinner time and really gave his head a wallop on the table (glass). I think he could well have a shiner tomorrow but luckily it didn't split the skin. It reminded me of way back in 1999 when the same thing happened to Bee at the local Library - the day before we were due to fly back to California out of Connecticut. Her eye did split and there was blood...so this was a lucky escape.
Then tonight as they were ''cleaning up'' the playroom, Paddy managed to stand on a drawing pin/thumb tack. MAD panic.....I had just put Rory in the bathtub so when Bee ran up the two flights of stairs screaming that Paddy had a tack stuck in him I really had no idea what I was going to find. She stayed to watch the little one and I ran down to find he just had a little drawing pin in his foot. I have done this myself before and I know it hurts but honestly.....he was screaming for me to call 911 - quite serious he was.. then screaming for hubby! Which is a laugh - he'd have just told him to belt up and not be such a wuss. Pulled pin out and there was a little blood. I dabbed it with a tissue and then when he saw how red his blood was on the white tissue there were more howls. It was almost comical the way he went. That huge baby that I pushed out 7 1/2 years ago...drug free ( 9lbs 2 oz applause please) ....one of the biggest kids in his class and he was screaming over a drawing pin. He then demanded 'Crunchies' - I think he meant crutches.... I offered him a plaster - which had come off by the time he went up 2 flights of stairs. He hobbled around all night - hope he has forgotten about it by tomorrow.
Then hubby came home. Asked me why I was stressed - actually not stressed per se - just waiting for it all to kick off about the luggage situation. Then came this conversation....
Me - Did you print off the directions to the house I forwarded to you?
Him - What you mean the ones where you called me a retard?
Me- Did I?
Him - Yeah - the e-mail had your e-mail attached to it - the one where you said basically 'I'm sure we can remember the roads from last year but my husband is a bit thick.' Is that the one you mean?
Ahhh well yes that was the one. I actually phrased it a tad nicer than that but that was the gist.
Oh and I told hubby if he mentioned bags or cases once he got home, he was so not getting laid tonight. He is sleeping and I am down here looking at what I still need to tidy away. Says it all really.
Have a fab Easter y'all. See you when my tan is sorted out. SubMum - will try my best with a postcard!!!
