Costa Maya

Sorry to leave you hanging...I haven't quite got the mojo to do a real post.  Here are some of the photos from Costa Maya.  We took a tour to the Chaccoben Mayan Ruins about an hour ( on a slow road) from Costa Maya.  Costa Maya is one of those places that didn't even have electricity until 9 years ago when a cruise port was carved out of the land.  There is a faux village type shopping area and not much else.  We had a wonderful guide on the bus who explained a lot about the Mayans and the Mayan lands;  she really made the trip go by in a flash.  Very poor countryside, but the ruins, which were uncovered in the mid to late 90s were fascinating.

See the black "spots" inside the hollow tree trunk?  Tarantulas...eek!

                                       The "faux" village beach area

 

Local cemetery

                                                    The lunar temple

                                                         The solar temple

 A teensy tiny orchid.  Apparently orchid flowering season had finished.

Did I mention it is hot in the jungle?   But, no whining since it was snowing back home!!

Next up...Roatan and Janet with Cappuchin monkey??

Janet

Sunshine

So gather round and listen to the story.  We booked our Caribbean Cruise ( Costa Maya, Roatan and Cozumel) aboard the NCL Mega ship Epic over a year ago.  The excuse was that it was to celebrate my 60th Birthday and also our 20th Anniversary (which isn't until September).  We have never had a winter vacation and we thought it was about time to try one ;)

In November I decided that since the cruise left from Miami on Saturday we should plan to leave here a couple of days early and enjoy Florida for 2 days. Just in case of weather, you know. And since we were going to spend 2 days we should leave on a 6:40 flight so that we would actually have 2 days to enjoy. Most of you know I have never been to Florida and have avoided it like the plague due to some silly story I read in the 4th grade.  So, since we were flying into Fort Lauderdale I found a cute little Inn in Hollywood Beach right on the beach for Thursday and Friday.


We haven't had a bad winter here in years. Enter the big, bad winter of 2011.  First there was the Christmas weekend blizzard followed closely by mega snow (and sometimes ice) storms twice a week.  I am not much of a worrier, but the closer the trip got the closer I followed the weather.  Sure enough a storm was predicted from Tuesday (2/1) AM to last thru the wee hours of the 3rd.  The day we were to leave, one of the days that was supposed to be expendable.  I was no longer viewing those two days as mere cyphers filling a void, but as valid vacation in the sun days.   Southwest offered a one time chance to rebook due to so much storminess.  I hemmed, I hawed, I chewed my nails and finally I took the plunge and rebooked for Friday AM, early...very early.  I figured it was better to be on a confirmed flight than on standby from a canceled flight.

The storm ended early...how very nervy....late Wednesday afternoon.  I vowed I would not check the Southwest website on Thursday AM, after all all the planes must be "sleeping" somewhere where the weather had not been crazy. Certainly none would be hanging around in Providence.  Guess what?  My original flight left right on time Thursday morning while I slept ;(.

Everything was packed and ready Thursday night with just a list of those last minute items...toothbrushes, hairbrush, curling iron, makeup...you know that stuff, right.  Alarm clock set for 4:00, right Bob?  We went to bed, I woke up at 2:37 and tossed for a while.  I heard the clock downstairs strike 2:45 and then 3:00.  Then nothing.  Perhaps I had dozed off??  I looked at the clock...WTH it was 5:10.  We were out of the house in 12 minutes...no shower, no makeup and NO COFFEE.  We got to the airport with 26 minutes til flight time and then there was a very long check in line.  Then they told us our luggage probably wouldn't make it on our flight ( if we made it on our flight).  I mumbled something about a Nudist Cruise.  But, we made it and our luggage made it and the Inn was just a half block from the most glorious beach and broadwalk( as opposed to boardwalk) that I ever could have imagined. And the cruise was glorious and now we are back to filthy, crusty snow and eating inside.  But ahh, it was glorious while it lasted and I can tell you....Florida has not seen the last of me :-)

These are pictures from Florida, minus the muscle cars etc.  I will post pictures from Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel when Bob has them processed and available.

Later,
Janet

RECALCULATING.....

Vacation plans ....( said just like the obnoxious woman that lives in the GPS)

ANXIOUS

Never have I packed for a trip so early; I am usually a throw it in a bag at the last minute kind of girl and contrary to the illustration above I travel light. Any of you who know me will attest to the fact that I am not exactly a fashion maven...blame it on being raised in Vermont by very sensible parents ;).

Never have I been so anxious to get out of Dodge in the winter and NEVER have I been so paranoid about the weather interfering with a vacation.

Fingers and toes crossed that this weather pattern changes before the end of next week...that means all of you with digits crossed, OK?

Later,
Janet

Giggling Gals

I'm getting ready for the Giggling Gals to celebrate my birthday tomorrow night.  I made the Beef Bourgignon early and will add the sauteed mushrooms and reheat tomorrow night.  There will crusty garlic bread, roasted veggies and a Toll House Pie a la mode for dessert.  I really wish you could all show up.  I would love to meet all of you and have a good gigglefest ;) Remember that old TV show "This is Your Life" where old grade school teachers and neighbors would appear?  I'm thinking that would be fun.  I would also like a genie to show up and clean my house..as much as I love the cooking, I hate the cleaning!!

Later,

Janet

This, that and the other thing...

Seems to be the time of year for reflecting...maybe not the kitties on the bed, but reflecting about the holiday season and the year(s) ahead.  You see, today is my fourth anniversary of quitting smoking ( that syntax sounds poor, but I don't know how else to put it).  Yes, I was one of those, the people who have become the pariahs of our society.  I was one of those people who swore I would never quit, I really enjoyed smoking.  It was calming, it was self-medicating my ADD and it was a part of who I was.  Then it became a social no-no, making it impossible to enjoy a lot of things because smoking was not allowed, and I felt shunned even though no one ever uttered a word about wanting me to quit. I think my obsessive need to fit in is what finally did it.  Now, four years later, I am so happy to have that monkey off my back.

I am also thinking about the holiday season.  My youngest son was home from California for 3 days.  Due to circumstances beyond my control it is really the only time I get to see him and of course it is the busiest time of year.  I am frazzled at the holidays because, like many of you, I try to do too much.  I make all the same food year after year, I host the Christmas Eve dinner for 14 adults and of course I make the homemade donuts for Christmas morning.  The last few years I have struggled with the donuts, maybe because I only make them once a year now.  This year I got my donut mojo back...they were delicious.  Because they are so delicious and even better the next day they have to be made no sooner than the night of the 23rd and hidden...well hidden.  I leave a few out for the boys to sample on Christmas Eve day and then hide the rest so that they will available for coffee on Christmas morn.  This year I really stumped them, I am so proud!  They were so perplexed and it made me laugh just to think about how persistent they were and of course, how very clever I was!! And I never gave it up, even after they were all gone, so maybe, just maybe I can use the same spot next year!! It's the little things, don't you know.

The next big reflection is the upcoming birthday.  On one side I know that some people don't get to have a 60th birthday and I feel lucky that I am physically and mentally healthy ( although some would challenge that notion), but 6-0 is such a big number.  Where did all those years go?  You look back and think that you are maybe 40 and then realize that you are 60, 6-0.  I feel like maybe all this introspection  is a 3/4 life crisis.  I never got a chance to have a midlife crisis.  Like most women, I was just too darned busy raising kids, working, adjusting to a new marriage and blending a family and all the other things we women do and do and do.  So, there you have it..I will be 60 and I just don't know what to do with it or where to integrate it into my thoughts and dreams.

That being said, my wonderful husband is taking me away on our first winter vacation ever to celebrate the big event.  It's easy for him to celebrate because he is 3 years younger and I will forever be known as the Cougar in his eyes.  So, we will be off on yes, a cruise to the Western Caribbean on the NCL Epic in February.  First we will fly to Florida for my first ever time in the Sunshine State.   I have always had a healthy distrust of Florida because of a book I read in the 4th grade about a family vacationing in Florida.  The precarious situation with the drawbridge, perhaps an impending storm and the stay at a cinder block motel has made me wary.  I have tried to find the book to re-read it and exorcise the demons, but alas no luck.  I recently found the book "The Pink Motel" which was published at the right time, but alas was not THE book. If any of you children of the 50s remember such a book, please advise ;) But, I ramble..........
We will stay in Hollywood Beach for two nights before going on the cruise to Costa Maya, Roatan and Cozumel.  All details are in order: tickets for Blue Man Group and Cirque de Soleil aboard the ship are reserved, dinner at Cagneys ( our favorite steak restaurant on NCL) is reserved for our last night at sea, tour to the ruins in Costa Maya and a private tour of Roatan featuring the botanical and butterfly gardens and lots of photo ops for Bob is a done deal.  Now it is just the wait....and while I wait the "big day" will come and go without major fanfare I hope.

OK, enough reflecting.  I need to get out of this computer chair and prepare to run to the airport to pick up my oldest son who has been in Raleigh visiting his Dad.

Later,
Janet 

Happy New Year my friends