Where oh WHERE did I leave my “sleep til 10am” personna? I am getting up earlier and earlier and it is driving me nutzo. I was up BEFORE 4:45, (9yeah, in the AM - I know! It is craziness!) and finally got up for good at 5am after tossing and turning and deciding I couldn’t get up until there was least a HINT that it was no longer the middle of the night. Sun is still Not Yet Up and we just are not going to talk about that fact, thank-you-very-much.
Stuff to do
1) decide if we’re going to bring the phones or not. I think we brought them last time and never used them but I forgot to add money to them last night, even after I specifically REMEMBERED at the checkout and then forgot between the beginning of the checkout and the end. I fear for my brain.
2) hang towels on line to bleach bacteria out so they won’t rot while we’re gone.
3) nag Jamie to put washer together and empty cooler (essential to the enjuage cycle) and while I’m at it, nag him about the towels in the recamera
4) clean out trailer and palapa fridges (wait until family is more to the point that it is ok to wake them)
5) find all the G.D. food I bought for the G.D. flights that Sissy must have stashed somewhere.
6) find the GD socks I bought last night for the boys and myself on de plane.
7) backup my school files on my computer and pack the damn thing already
nag Jamie to put washer back together
9) pack up all toiletries
10) pack up arrachera in portion sizes in plastic wrap, sandwich between bollilos which are themselves wrapped in plastic so it looks like we bought them.
11) obsess over US customs
12) decide if we want to bring empty water bottles
13) email Deb
14) pack reference books cause I’m TOTALLY going to study while we’re gone (I think I just swallowed my tongue trying not to laugh)
15) order more Teaching Company videos from Link+ so they get working on it before the hauliday
16) check my Ebay watch list and check fot TTC DVDs
17) nag Jamie AfreakingGAIN to put the GD washer backtoGDether again and this time it’s going to WORK damnit!
18) measure recamera windows and Write It Down and Pack the thing I wrote it down on
19) make more cawfee and silently strangle Jamie for not grinding more of my Cubano roast promise Jamie my undying love for grinding cawfee this morning
20) find and pack Diva cup (where oh where is it???)
21) try and resolve T42 issue via email
22) pack FM3 and passports with eticket.
23) take a shower
24) ask Chadalie to put $ on our phones
I got an email from our realtor that the house in Merida is ready to close. WTF??? Why are WE the ONLY ones on Mexican time down here??? Not only that, but the government offices will close probably just days before we return and we’ll have to delay the closing until next year. Now we’re not chomping at the bit to close because we can’t move in anyway, but (and you knew this was coming) there will be extra fees if we close next year. Of COURSE! So I’m thinking of either asking someone to take Power of Attorney and close for us or I might just fly back and take care of it myself.
I bought 1.25 kilos of HC Monterrey arrachera to bring on da plane. If US customs gives me a hard time, we’ll sit down in security and eat the nirvana right there. I would rather die (me? melodramatic?) than give up my arrachera. I’m toying with the idea of bringing some to my Mom and Dad but that would mean *I* would have to not pig out on my share. Tough call. They might just have to come down here to get some.
We found a refrigerator on the road yesterday and since ours (which we stole from our neighbors) is really small (but marginally larger than the trailer fridge) and so quickly frosts that one of Jesse’s weekly jobs is to defrost it (and it could use a defrosting about every 4 days), I convinced Jamie to grab it off the road and drag it into our palapa while I headed off to take Pike and myself to dentist. I am really beginning to like our dentist. When we first started going I always thought he was gouging us (prices) because I was so used to the prices everywhere else in Mexico. But he is very gentle and kind and respectful of the kids and we go months without paying and then settle the bill. But his prices are really high to my mind. Pike and I had fillings yesterday and I ran out of money and told him I’d pay when we got back. Two appointments for Pike to medicate a tooth and fill it - $600. Pesos. Yeah, we’ve already established that I’m cheep. Back to the fridge (did you enjoy your little ride to tangentown?), I talked to someone who may come by and see if he can save us the $4000 cost of a new fridge by fixing this one. Fingers crossed.
T minus 4.5 hours. I think I need to get to work.
When I next update I’ll either be waiting for da plane in CUN, crying at customs in Miami because we’ve missed our connection because they’re going through our stuff with a fine-toothed comb or fat and gorged on turkey. I’m hoping it is the latter. We have our wonderful friends Deb, Jeff, Sara and Andrew meeting our flight again and we’re giddy with excitement to see them. I’ve not posted flight information before, but since we have people staying here at the palapa in our absence, there isn’t any danger in doing so. I sure hope.
We’re flying CUN to Miami on AA flight something and then Miami to SFO AA flight 1817 or 1816 or something I can’t rmember. Maybe I’ll update this later.
T minus 4 hours and we got SUN, baby! SUN!
T minus 50 MINUTES AND WE’RE NOT STRESSED!!!!!

Ellen has been begging for earrings for what seems like a year. I’m sure it has been much less time, and she has been dedicated and sure. We’ve been talking and talking and promised her that she’d get them for her birthday. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and yesterday we finally made good.


