Pictures!

Guess who has new batteries for the camera?

First, here are my new flip flops. See how my nail polish matches so nicely? I swear it had nothing to do with my purchase...



Next, a candy wrapper purse I bought last Friday night. I didn't mention it before but figured I may as well throw in it there while I'm taking pictures.




And finally. The moment you've all been waiting for... my AlphaSmart!

Hooray!

I'll post some pictures either later today or tomorrow, but I have my AlphaSmart! It's so cute and light and portable and I'm very excited to put it to work. It's the Quick Pad version, whatever that means, and a couple names have come to mind, but nothing has stuck yet.

Any suggestions?

Holy Guacamole!

Yesterday I did a very stupid thing. It started with the best intentions but it took a bad turn about an hour in.

You see, I accompanied a friend to the doctor, my doctor, because she needed to go and I speak better Spanish than her. Yes, my doctor thought it was funny that after months of needing Ibis by my side to translate, I'm now the translator. So anyway, we were in the doctor's office when I noticed the scale against the wall.

We don't have a scale at home and while I think that's generally a healthy thing, there comes a time when you do want to know how much you weigh. I knew I'd gained a few pounds over the past few months because while my clothes still fit, they take a little longer to get on. I've been blaming the heat and the fact that I begin sweating five minutes after toweling off from my shower (have you ever tried getting dressed while still wet?) but that little voice kept insisting there was more to the story.

In general I exercise regularly and eat very healthy. My biggest problem is portion control. Last month I decided I needed to crack down on myself and whip my butt back into shape. Literally. It all goes to my hips & rear end. I've been making progress and have started seeing a difference, but I still have a ways to go. Cut to yesterday.

I climbed on the scale and kept pushing the little weight further to the right. Everything here is metric so while I knew the number wasn't good I wasn't sure how much I'd gained until I got home and did the conversion to pounds.

Right now, AFTER losing some weight this past month, I'm STILL ten pounds heavier than I was when we moved here. I'm terrified to know what I weighed a month ago! It probably has a lot to do with the fact that we don't eat dinner until Ibis gets home from work, often close to 9pm. I know that's terrible but I really enjoy sitting down with my husband.

I really hope this isn't my age creeping up on me!

New Kicks

I'm really hungry and tired and hot but I thought I'd let you all know that I bought new flip flops today. They have lots of traction so hopefully I won't fall in the middle of the street anymore. Although, the minute I put them on and walked out of the store I proceeded to watch my toes and notice how the polish matches the sandals (pink). That's how I fell in the first place.

Eyes forward!

I'm Getting a Sally!

I'm not sure if I mentioned but we have another Chicago friend coming to visit this Tuesday. She's staying for a full week, which will be nice because I won't feel like we're trying to cram everything into a long weekend. There really isn't that much to see here but it's amazing how quickly the time flew with my friends last month.

In addition to our friend coming to visit, she's playing courier pigeon. My cousin Jenna discovered that I've been jealous of my friend Janna and her fancy schmancy AlphaSmart, and offered to send me her old one, gratis. We looked up shipping costs from Michigan to Mexico and the cheapest I could find was around $80. Yowza! Something about international rates and it being an electronic device really jacked up the price.

Right about then Ms. Chicago Friend emailed to tell me she booked her trip for this week and the courier plan was put into action. Jenna sent her the AS via Priority Mail and it will arrive at Zihuatanejo International in two days. Yay!

Jenna named hers Sally and my friend Jes named hers Flor, so I've a couple days to name my new friend.

I Suppose I Asked for This

A couple days ago I said I was going to stay inside to avoid all the craziness, and aside from my run yesterday, I haven't left the house. Since Wednesday.

*checks calendar* Yep, it's Friday.

Funny thing happens when you don't leave the house. More accurately, nothing funny happens. Aside from seeing the same stories on CNN a hundred times and emailing every person I know, I don't do anything. The house is clean, the mending is done, I've eaten all the food, and I'm B.O.R.E.D. I bought a workout DVD the other day so I'd like to try that out this afternoon, then there's a going away party for a restaurant owner this evening.

Exciting, eh?

This weekend is a big holiday here in Mexico so I'm sure I'll have more stories for you soon.

Rooster Calisthenics

Staying inside yesterday was a smart move. The most exciting thing that happened was we couldn't cook dinner because we ran out of gas. This morning Ibis had the tank replaced and now we're good for another five months.

Now about this rooster.

While on my run this morning I saw a man carrying a rooster on the beach. Now, roosters are very common in Mexico and while I've seen them in some really odd places, this was my first sighting on the beach. I observed the rooster as the man walked towards an open area and one thing struck me: it wasn't moving. Not a feather. It looked like it had been stuffed. I was actually walking at this point and stared for a couple minutes and he didn't wiggle a toe. There was another rooster in the sand, near where I first saw the man, but that one was clearly alive.

Puzzled, I continued on.

On the way back I passed them again, but this time the rooster was most definitely alive. The man was holding it by the tail while the rooster scraped and clawed at the sand. It looked like he was trying to run. Sand flying, the man held on while the other rooster watched the spectacle.

I told Ibis about it when I got home and he's seen this man before. "He's training the roosters," he said.

"Training? For what?"

"Cockfights."

Great...