I added to my Nike Tempo short obsession with dark purple, black and brilliant blue pairs.  I’m a total Tempo whore.  I LOVE the colors but I did get a pair of Brooks Equilibrium shorts and really like those also, but they just didn’t have the colors that Nike did.  I am, however, finding pretty Brooks so that might become a problem.  I’ve been trying to find a pair of dark green shorts or red shorts for the bicentennial – I’ll run some race but I’m not sure what and pretty much all I know is that it most likely won’t be in DF.  I’d like to wear the colors and have a red/white top already so I’m keeping an eye out for dark green.

We all enjoyed the Copa Mundial here (it’s not over?  Well, it is for Mexico…) and even the boys suited up and wore the colors for El Tri.  There have been great games but TS Alex (who became Hurricane Alex) gave us such winds that the TV (at the restaurant, where we watched the games) had to be moved inside and huddling around the hallway trying to catch a glimpse of the (albeit 52″) screen made game time a little less enjoyable.  Well, that and Argentina.  Ugh.  Nuff said.

I’ve started a new job as one of my recent jobs just didn’t work out.  I’m much happier with a great support staff and Direct Deposit!  When you’re working in a country without reliable mail delivery, having direct deposit is such a relief.  I also took delivery of 2 new desktops, bought at Dell outlet (under $300USD) and imported by Merkalink an delivered to the palapa in a very timely manner.  I love the Merkalink service but you have to make sure you’re getting a screaming deal as the $100USD delivery fee is hefty.  I could find NOTHING here for that price and with those components, so Merkalink came to the rescue.  I now have a work computer, a backup laptop and a backup desktop.  Due to HIPAA I really can’t have the kids using my work computer, and so the girls have a computer that they can use.  Sissy is pretty happy with it and the boys are uber jealous.  Jesse is trying to figure out a gaming computer he’d like but I’m not sure where he’ll get the money for it.  Poor guy just had his laptop crash also, so we’ll have to figure something out for him.

I went to my favorite hairdresser yesterday (Pike) who chopped about 6 inches off and I’m not sure anyone really noticed (other than the pile of hair in the garbage).

Today marks a huge day of change in my life – it was the day I became a mother for the first time and my entire life as I had known it changed.  The kids have made me a radically different (and BETTER) person that I never knew would be possible and I can’t thank them enough for giving me that opportunity.  Jesse was such a tiny little guy – 6lb 10oz when he was born – but we just figured out the other day (after growing at night again) that he is taller than Jamie.  Sigh.  My baby is growing up.  The firstborn and guinea pig of the family seems to always get the short end of the stick and there is so much I would have done differently with him had I known at the time, but he has come through and shone so brilliantly it humbles me.

There is another Waldorf school in town, Colegio Papalote, and that might fit Ellen better.  There is a LOT more English spoken at Ak Lu’um so I don’t know how she’ll do somewhere else.  The boys are taking Spanish in the evenings in town but with all the sports at Colegio Mayaland, I’m going to have to see if there is any chance they can at a minimum participate in sports.

So tomorrow we get up at the butt crack of dawn (seriously, if I’m going to get my run in, I have to get up at 5am) and Ellen and Sissy head off to Ak Lu’um to check it out.  Ellen wants me there at least in the morning, so I’ll be sitting outside the classroom (you KNOW I’ll have my camera) and hoping I don’t have to miss Mexico vs. Uruguay because then, well, pretty much I’d have to shoot myself.

BOO!!! I posted AGAIN!!!

I’m getting much closer to putting the girls in school (Ak Lu’um), a Waldorf school, more for the cultural and social opportunities than anything else.  They are so very isolated here.  Course, school is about to let out for the month of July, and I’m hoping to just get them in for a week or so to try the school idea out.  I’m not hoping for a lot of scholastic value – more social and cultural.  School isn’t cheap though at $4000/month (MN) and multiple, constant fees, but since public school is not an option for we foreigners, we don’t have too many other choices.  Simply having a Waldorf school (there are actually 2 in town) is amazing, but really shows how many Europeans live here.

The turtles are FINALLY nesting!  I counted 12 nests on our beach and 12 on 1/2 of the beach to the north.  I am so relieved as I believe that the number of turtle nests directly corresponds to direct hits from hurricanes.  I’m prognosticating NO hits within 300 km this year.  We’ll see how that goes.

I got my DESKTOP!!!  I ordered it on 5/31, it was canceled and so I ordered another (which was canceled) and then a Compaq from Staples.  By the time I received all the cancellation notices the 1st (canceled) system showed up at Merkalink in Texas, so I imported that baby and am LOVING Windows 7.  I really thought I’d hate it and was counting the days until I got Professional and XP mode, but honestly, it is really a nice OS.  It is like the best of Apple (which I HATE) mixed with XP.  I also am trying out the local wireless provider here and am LOVING not worrying about downloads.

Work is really slowing down and I’m currently looking for (yet another) client.  I have a job offer from one really good sounding one and have signed papers and all so it is just a matter of waiting for their HR to catch up.  Even better is that they offer direct deposit making my middleman obsolete.  Well, at least for that client.

Our Canadian neighbors are leaving at the end of the month and I think we might start working on Merida then.  I’ve been holding off due to the kids (and work) but actually sent keys and instructions off to friends of the architect and we’re waiting for plans/info from him as to what possibilities there are and costs.  I’m thinking of a run/race pretty soon as weekends are pretty slow with work, and hopefully we’ll check in with him then.

And that’s all the news that’s fit to print.

So I first had to figure out if I could go with Windows 7.  I decided that since so much of my software is legacy that I really needed to stick with XP.  I can’t even begin to find software that works with Mac, so that was out from the start.  All I could really find with XP was Lenovo and Dell.  I could find old reconditioned systems with XP but I really wanted something that would allow me to eventually upgrade to Windows 7 with XP mode and that involved a  CPU with virtualization technology.

So I decided that VT wasn’t really such an issue and I continued to keep an eye out for deals.  I was pretty sold on a Lenovo Thinkcentre M58 at Fry’s and almost brought it home with me when I unexpectedly went to the US for a funeral, but at the last minute a highly-regarded guy in Cancun was contacted and he said he’d build me a system to meet my needs for about the same price as the M58.  Since I would have had to pay about $150 in import fees once I got to Cancun, I figured his was a much better deal so I came home only loaded with about 50 kilos of STUFF.

Well, it turns out Dr. Chip (yeah, that’s his handle) had his store robbed and is very typical in responding to requests and here we are, about a month later and I still don’t have many specifics about the system other than it is looking like it will be an extra $200US for the operating system.

So I started looking again online.  I checked Ebay, I waffled, I checked MercadoLibre (Mexico’s Ebay) I researched CPUs and finally decided that I was going to go with Windows 7 and upgrade to XP mode and stop looking for XP machines.  If my software can’t handle XP mode then I’ll keep working on the laptop for that one account until I get XP installed on the desktop or whatever.  Decision made.

So Dell had a 15% coupon for their outlet that expired last night (at midnight, one would think).  About 9pm or so I finally made a decision and purchased a system.  It ended up about $321 including tax and would run Windows 7 XP mode.  I would pay another $70 for XP mode and about $150 (though probably less) to ship it here.  So, all in all, about $500 US for a new system.  I can’t find that price for anything here, especially with English OS, so I was happy with my decision.  The only regret was that it was a minitower and not a small form factor but whatevah, I finally made a decision, bought a system and now I could FINALLY drop that big decision and hassle.

Except this morning I found that Dell had canceled the order.  They said the customer decided they didn’t want the system.  I have no idea where they got that information, but after 30 minutes on the phone with about 4 different departments I need to wait 2 hours now and call yet another department to get my order reinstated.  Or not.

So now I have to decide if I want to try to reinstate this order or find something “better”.  Sigh.

In local news we have 3 new turtle nests and hope for a calm season.

UPDATE:  Woohoo!  After trying 3 times to purchase 3 different systems today (ranging from $466 to $271) I finally made it!  It has been “proccessing” all day today and just moved to “production” status.  It should be in Laredo on the 7th and then Merkalink picks up the baton and imports it and ships it to me here.  That is probably another week or so of processing.  I know customs is at least 2-3 days.  So it looks like I finally might have purchased something!  I’ll have a 2-core processor (AMD Athlon II X2 240) and 4GB ram and 320GB HDD and Windows Seven Pro (and then I’ll download XP mode).

UPDATED DOS:  Well, it looks like Dell canceled the 2nd order also.  I can only assume they don’t want my business.  So I just ordered a Compaq.  Who knows what will happen now.

So, today I had a free morning and decided to check into the IMSS health insurance.  I got my run in first knowing that I could be there all day.  Well, not really as they close at noon.  I got the information I need to start the process and wouldn’t you know THEY want a CURP also!  I figured this was my message from the gods and decided to head over to Registro Civil and see what could be done.  I told a, well, not a white lie at all, but an out-and-out lie that they kids already HAD their FM3s but they were en tramite so I didn’t have the numbers but I promised to come back with the numbers once they got out of INM tramite hell.  That should be fun.  And I got CURPs for everyone in the family.  It may have helped that I already had mine.  Who knows.

So, tramite dos down.  I was loaded for bear now and decided to hit up Marti and see if they had adult Brooks running shoes in (they’re advertising all over the Mexican blogging scene) but no, still only kids.  I did get, however, a swim cap and goggles and now have no excuse to swim.  I also picked up some Electrolit (electrolyte replacement – drink de jour when you’re in the land of dead water and constant sweat) as summer seems to be settling in.

I then picked up Kilo’s flea stuff and arranged to have him groomed and nails cut ($86MN) and was happy as a clam to get So Much Done.  As I drove away from the last tramite I really felt like I was getting away with something.  Well, those lines at IMSS will show me I’m not.  I fully expect to have to jump through a million bazillion hoops for them.  Course I should be ready for it after jumping through INMs.

I still need to get those fotos from the Travesia Sagrada up…and find a desktop to buy…

My Aunt reminded me that I’ve been here too long.    INM is migracion, IMSS is the health service, FM3 is a nonresident “visa” which is renewed yearly, a CURP is like a social security number.  Sorry about that.  I had no idea how much was in there.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure that there is anything about Xcaret (even if they threw in Xplor with the ticket) to justify the ticket price but for free it is an amazing experience.

So this year, being a year smarter and a year more experienced, we got up at 3;30, made cawfee (natch!) and got the kids up at 4am and were in the car, headed down the road by 4:15.  Yes.  In the Ay Em.  We were still in the longest line we’ve ever seen but this year they had employees going through the line handing out wristbands and people were able to stream through the gate quite easily.  We were down to the beach before dawn even considered, um, dawning, and settled in for the wait.  It was well worth it.  The kids were all very impressed by the ceremony if not the sheer number of canoeists braving the rolling waters for their journey to Cozumel.

As like last year we decided to head home for a nap before going back to enjoy the park.  Jamie started some bacon and I headed to bed, after taking off my sandy pants (this will be important later) as I’d gone to bed at midnight thirty, up at 2am, then 3am and finally at 3:30 for good.  I was incredibly NOT well-rested.  I heard the girls in the background bickering about taking Kilo for a walk and figured I’d just settle for resting if not sleep.  I must have managed to nod off, however, as the next thing I remember is the low, loud moan of Sissy.  It was a moan you don’t mistake for play.  I rushed outside in undies and a long sports bra and found her on her back on the ground.  She had fallen from the top balcony of the palapa (I estimated 3 meters at the hospital, oh yes, we went) and was on her back, the wind completely knocked out of her.  She was complaining about her back and (Chet close your eyes here) all I could think of was seeing her lying on the wet gravel and pokey fencing and I picked her up and laid her on a seat cushion.   At this point our neighbor, Jorge, came running out of his house shirtless and Keltie (neighbor across the road) came running over also.  I was MORTIFIED to be caught in undies and was desperate to get some pants on.

She was still in a LOT of pain and very quickly I decided to get her to Hospiten.  I was KICKING myself for moving her and tried to keep the rest of the moving to a minimum.  I moved a sofa over to the height of the chair she was sprawled in, placed a flat boogie board to serve as a backboard on it, and gently moved her to her “backboard” and cleaned out the car.  I woke Jamie and the boys, stashed Ellen with the boys and we headed to Hospiten, Jamie accompanying Sissy in the back of the van (on the boogieboard, on the floor).  (ok, Chet, safe to open your eyes again)

At arrival at Hospiten I let them know I had my daughter in the car and that I needed help getting her out.  I couldn’t think what to call a gurney so I didn’t even ask for it.  The ER on call doc quickly came out of the ER and jumped into the back of the van (it helped that she was about the size of a large munchkin) with Sissy to assess her and keep her company while Jamie manuvered the van into position for the gurney and I filled out very preliminary patient data.  The receptionists all recognized me there (I’m not sure that’s actually a good thing) and only one mentioned that it could be a costly visit and did I want to know prices.  I told her that this was my daughter and she finished the thought.

The ER doc helped me, along with what turned out to be the radiology tech, to get Sissy out of the van (still on the boogieboard) and onto the gurney.  They knew she had fallen from 3 meters directly onto her back and the doc took her directly into X-ray where she ordered C, T and L-spine x-rays.  I think I heard her ask for pelvic also.  She then left us in the capable hands of the radiologist tech and the Ultrasound doc (who did my breast lump ultrasound) came by to check out the films.  Once they figured out there were no obvious fractures they turned her on her side and x-rayed some more.

The doc then came back down (there were at least 3 other patients in the ER at this time) to x-ray and talked to us and went out to get a gurney and we brought her into the ER rooms.  This doc was AMAZINGLY hands-on.  I was wowed at how involved she was, from getting a gurney to triage.  She and the ultrasound doc read the x-rays and decided to bring in an Orthopedist for a specialist consult.  I’ve met the Ortho before (for Jesse’s Osgood-Schlatter dx) and he was as personable as ever, though it seemed to me that he did a cursory physical examination, checking light touch sensation only, with no DTR examination at all.

Everyone announced her very lucky and with nothing obviously fractured, but for us to keep an eye and bring her back if increasingly severe pain.  They gave her some acetaminophen in the room and that really helped her pain.

Once we got her squared away back at home, oh, did you want to know the price?  Well, it was mostly x-rays, but we ended up paying $3400 which is about $267 USD at the rate we exchanged.  The consults for the 3 specialists added up to $1000 and the acetaminophen was $4.50 ($0.35 USD).  It was refreshing, to say the least,  not to get gouged for the drugs.  The majority of the bill was for x-rays.

Once we got her home and settled, Pike and Ellen and I headed back to Xcaret and we spent the afternoon at the park, found places we hadn’t been last year and more places for next year.  Ellen got to see all the animals she asked for and (her last request) to roll down the grassy hill at the exit.  Bliss.

Sissy is doing MUCH better today.  I had her get up and walk around a little bit to move blood around her muscles and she is now back in bed.  She is still on ibuprofen but I think the pain is mainly ache and nothing serious.  As for the upstairs balcony?  It will be torn down as soon as we find Dino.

From a volunteer standpoint, the event was quite well planned.  There was a good amount of scrambling to staff holes and while I was supposed to work hole 1, I ended up on 12 and 14 Thursday, hole 16 Friday and finally hole 1 on Saturday.  I begged off work today as we have sick kids and when I found that most all other volunteers only worked 3 days I had no problem begging off the day.

Thursday on hole 12 found that the hole had been horribly staffed and 4 of the morning marshals had to stay the entire day to cover the hole.  The pros had some trouble on this hole and a number of them hit into the jungle or up onto the road.  This normally wasn’t an issue until the fans decided to get into the fun and began bushwhacking through the scrub and jungle trying to find the ball.  The first time this happened I waited for the closer marshal to deal with the fans, but when the caddie, the pro and 4 fans were deep into trees and jungle, I ended up heading down and pulling fans out of the jungle and sending them back to the pathway.  That particular pro never found his ball.  The next couple times I just immediately left my post and headed down to keep the fans back and away from the pro.  It was a learning experience.  That was a pretty dull day though, with only about 6 of all the pros hitting outside the fairway and I really wished I had a book or Soduko or mosquito repellent.   This was also my first day dealing with the evil TV folk.  This PGA tour is covered by a few local channels but also quite extensively by the Golf channel, and the golf channel employees have an amazing sense of entitlement.  I had a group of pros teeing off when a lady in a golf cart took no notice of the guide rope blocking her path and tried to ram right through it.  When I informed her that she should NOT drive along the path because the pros were teeing off and she was going to be driving through the fairway they were hitting along, she unwrapped the rope from her steering wheel (the guide rope did its job – kept her from advancing) and said, “oh, they’re used to us and besides I’m TV (angels sang at the mention of “TV”) and we’re allowed to do whatever we want to. “  Um, ok.   So she disentangled herself and advanced about 5 inches (because obviously, the pros were hitting the ball over the path she wanted to take).  But daymn if she didn’t get her 5 inches!

Friday, having learned from Thursday, I brought a book, 2 Soduko books, water,  some cereal bars and an umbrella.  I was pulled off 12 that day and placed on hole 16.  I really liked 16 – there were only 2 people manning the entire hole and they really needed some extra bodies.  I soon found why.  The pros were very consistently hitting the ball off the fairway, but still quite playable and I was constantly pulling the guide ropes out of their way and keeping fans away from the ball.  I had no need for Soduko or books that day but I was VERY glad I’d brought an umbrella as it rained and misted a lot of the day.  The pros were very considerate, even around the TV assholes (who insisted on things the pros then declined) and always thanked me whenever I helped them out.  I even taught a Spanish phrase to one of them (but since I know NOTHING about golf, I have no idea who it was).  The hole was so understaffed, however, that I never was able to get a bathroom break that day.  Luckily it was so overcast that I didn’t need to drink much.

Yesterday I was Very prepared with sunblock, mozzy repellent, book, Soduko, umbrella (didn’t need it for either sun or rain), food (they gave us a fruit, cookie and chips for “lunch” each day), lots of water and the desire to get back before nightfall.  Both previous days had me leaving before the kids woke and coming home tired after nightfall.  Today I was determined to get home as early as possible.  Hole 1 was rather boring after all the wild shots on 12 and 16, so I spiced it up by positioning myself between 1 and 3 and helping out the guys on 3 putting into the green as pros walked by after teeing off on 1.  It was a very sunny day and I was able to find shade and breeze but still used every ounce of sunblock I applied.  I was surprised by the low crowds – we had much more traffic on 12 and 16 and if I do this event next year, I’ll be looking for a more “hopping” hole.   The pros were still very considerate and thankful and they really made the event.  And over on hole 1, I didn’t see 1 single golf channel person.  Everyone I talked to was disgusted with the behavior of the TV personnel so I felt vindicated in my distaste.

Today is a lazy Sunday, I was supposed to do a 7 mile run but I’m not sure that will happen until the temperature drops a little.  I think I ran a 9 min mile yesterday but without some official chrono, I’m tempted not to believe my watch until it happens consistently.