HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Although I celebrated Halloween early, today IS the day and I cannot let it pass without wishing you all a Happy Halloween!!!

I thought this pic captured the spirit of Halloween pretty well, so here it is for your viewing pleasure:

I wish I had some of our old family Halloween pics. My mom was pretty good at getting in the spirit of things and making our costumes. I think home-made costumes are the best if you actually put effort into and try to a good job. Between my sister, my brother and I, I must admit, we had some kick ass costumes. I remember the discussion early on in the month as to what I would be and when it was decided, mom tackled the task with energy and creativity. I don't really ever remember her complaining about it. In fact it seemed as though she enjoyed it. In past years I've been:

- Pippy Longstocking - The braids went straight out. Special thanks to mom for the straightened coathanger shoved through my braids and over the top of my head to make the braids stand out. You can bet my head hurt at the end of the day.

- Punky Brewster - Really not that hard to do. Just threw my punkiest clothes together. However, mom did organize it all and did the makeup.

- A Clown - You'd think this would be a simple thing. But no, mom got creative. She took a pair of my dad's old pants and put wiring around it so they would stick out around me. They were kept up with suspenders and we painted an old shirt of my dad's as well. She did an awesome job on the makeup too. We did purchase the curly wig!

- The Bride of Frankenstein / Lily from the Munsters - Mom spray painted my hair black and did the white streaks up nice. People were a little confused for my dual costume (hows that for some spanglish!?).

- 60's Chick - My mom had this kick ass psychadelic dress. I did hair and make-up appropriately to match. It was a hit with the teachers at school.

- 70's Love Child - My mom also had some kick ass pants with this cute top to match. I actually wore these pants out clubbing (not for Halloween) on several occassions and always got lots of compliments on them. I unfortunately had to retire them. They were falling apart. :( RIP COOL PANTS!

- Ninja - I bought a traditional Ninja costume from the Martial Arts supply store. It was the bomb. My boyfriend and I were Ninja's together. We couldn't stop acting like Ninja's either. Dancing consisted of kicks and punches and jumps. LOL. I wish I had that shit on tape.

- Whatsherface from Flashdance - This is when value village and those stupid leg warmers my sister had really come in handy.

My sister's hit costumes were:

- Flapper Girl - Ok so she rented this one but it was pretty cool.

- Angel - Mom did the entire thing. She did look like one....ha.

- Witch - She made her very own paper mache witches hat and mom threw the rest together. I think it was probably her favorite thing to be.

- Little Girl - She went to school all cutsie with pigtails and her teddy bear and sucked on her thumb the whole day.

- Snow Shoveler - When it was my sisters turn to take me out trick-or-treating, she would always, say to me, "Ask them for extra for your big sister". I hated this but did it because if I didn't she would threaten me and make my life miserable. So I remember one time I asked and the people didn't just say, "Ok ...duh here". This woman asked her to come to the door and so I made her come to the door and when the lady asked her what she was, she said she was a snow shoveler. She had a big long dark coat on and gloves. In case you didn't know this already, that was what she wore every day. Since she wasn't carrying her shovel with her, the people gave her a hard time and didn't give her any candy and I thumbed my nose up at her. Served her right.

My brother's best costumes were:

- Mummy - My mom ripped up old sheets and wrapped him up in them. As the night went on he started to unravel. LOL.

- Bum - My brother put much effort into this one. He was convinced he could be the best bum ever. I think he even poured alochol on his clothes so he would stink like one.

- Julius Cesar - My parents owned an Italian restaurant back in the day and mom and dad dressed up in Roman garb. They mingled with the clientelle and it was a big hit. There is a photo of my dad holding his thumb out with it pointed down as if to say, "Kill him" and my brother has a pic exactly like it. Like father like son.

- Frankenstein Mask worn a million times - Whenever my brother took me out he did not just let me go get the candy by myself or ask me to ask for more candy for him. No, my brother worked hard and made me work hard too. My brother made me run as fast as I could to every damn house and he came right along with me. All he had on was that stupid Frankenstein mask but I tell you, everyone loved him! There were times when our bags were so full that we had to go home and drop off our stash and run out and get more. I remember those times fondly. Altho, I'm not sure how enjoyable it was as I was out of breathe the entire time. When we finally did get home, the negotiations began and you can bet that I always got ripped off. Lets not forget the firecracker selling and lighting off that took place along the way. My brother is a business man but may also be a pyromanic as the lighting of firecrackers and fireworks went into New Years.

Well, I think I've bored you enough but if you aren't going to do something for Halloween, at least go get yourself some candy and watch a spooky movie!

Ahhhh. The good 'ol days!

P.S. Mom, if you can, you should try and scan some pics of our Halloween costumes so I can post them!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween - I'm never going to grow up

Saturday night was a Halloween party night. I wasn't really going to dress up as anything and certainly didn't want to buy anything. But then I realized that I love Halloween and that I should probably do a little something.

So I went into my closet and got my wraps out and my stinky boxing gloves and sportied myself up. It was nothing special really, but at least it was something. Even my buddy Gerry got into the spirit and made it look like he was running a marathon and had his number pinned to his shirt. We are geeks....in case you haven't noticed!

So I went to the party and Mr. Gerry introduced me to his friends. He led me into the kitchen to fix me up a beverage (alcoholic of course) and proceeded to hand me a plate of coconut shrimp and meat on skewers. He said he saved it special for me,..... so I did feel special.

There were quite a few people there and quite a few kids and most people had costumes of some sort or another. It really did have a Halloween feel to it. I thought I'd take advantage of the night and get my picture with Frankenstein the Piñata and my friend Benjamin the Bunny. So that is what I did.

Frankenstein the Piñata and moi:

Benjamin the Bunny and me snuggly wuggly with him:

When it was time for the kids to whack the Frankenstein, we all watched patiently. I was amazed at how controlled the kids seemed. But then they didn't put a blind fold on them and I'm pleased to say that no kids, crotches, heads or bunnies were harmed in the process.

I am not pleased to say that I gave one of my gloves to Gerry so he and I could beat the kids up to get more candy when it did break open. I was kind of half joking but Gerry apparently took this very seriously. When the candy went flying, he went running, and he was calling me to get in there. So as adult-and-grown-up-like as I am, I was like OK!!!! and before you know it I was on the ground with the rest of them grabbing as much candy as I could!

If that wasn't bad enough, Gerry and I weren't feeling childish enough, so we decided to roast the mini marshmallows we got on the BBQ and since that was too slow a process, we decided that torching them with a lighter and blowing the flame out was the best way to go about it. We also did a few trades (I'll trade you this gross chili candy for your Bubu Lubu) and we were not very eager to share our candy with the lame adults who didn't want to embarrass themselves by acting like children and scrounging for candy, but that wanted the candy never-the-less.

We continued to shoot the shit between the marshmallow roasting and the carne on the BBQ. We tasted some kick-ass mexican spaghetti too (salsa verde with corn & queso, spaghetti the opposite of al dente). It had really been a while since I've been able to really let loose and shoot the shit with people I don't know and use my wit and charm (Sorry Gerry...your friends like me better than they like you nanananana) and I really enjoyed myself.

After several drinks, and lots of candy and other great snacks, I decided that I should head to the other party at My Place so that is what I did. But before that, I made sure I stole one of the party bags that they were saving for the "kids". Gerry even got the balls to steal a bag himself. I've realized we are sort of bad that way. Egging the other one on to act more stupid than the other. I said my goodbyes, thanked everyone for their hospitality and hoped that Gerry's friends didn't think I was some stupid wackadoo flying off into the night.

I grabbed a cab to the Hotel Zone and against my better judgement I didn't take two bathroom breaks like I should have. Only one. And when we got to Pok Ta Pok I was really having to go to the bathroom really bad. The cab driver asked me if I was in a hurry and I said yes I have to pee. So off he went through the red light (two actually) and I was there in a flash. I threw my fanny pack at the dudes at the table in the front and said keep this I'm going pee, brb! I came down, paid the donation fee, sat myself at the bar and proceeded to fill my bladder up more.

I probably would have stayed longer but the place was closing and I was given another party gift bag (you have no idea how happy that made me) so I hitched a ride with that Kim chick and we bullshitted the whole way home. It was lots of fun. I was a bullshit queen that night I tell you. A bullshit kickboxer who really wasn't in any costume at all. I tell you that guy from the week before should have said what he said this week, then it wouldn't have hurt so much when I hit him....cuz you know....they are 16 ounce gloves and are well padded.

Well folks I'm outta here for now. But I leave you with another photo. One in which you must never tell Diesel you saw! I have shamed him but I seriously pissed my pants all day long looking at that pic. It's just PRICELESS:

Later and Happy Halloween. Do not let this moment pass another second before you act like a child again. Life is too short! (Or too long depending on how bad a day your having)

Wilma Photos

This is my apartment. I'm on the top floor and that was the tree that fell on my car:
The Ford dealership. The Chevy dealership, just next door seemed unscathed:

Girbled mess:

This is the MacGyver street phone I called my mom on:

Gee....no wonder we had no power!

Explain to me how a cement electrical pole can just snap in half?

This was my desk. Windows blew out and even ripped the metal framing off:

This was the office next to mine. The wall between my office and this office got ripped out, including the doors and door frames.....and shit I didn't even know was part of our office got ripped out in the process:My desk again....windows out, but printer in tact and I still have it and it works to this day!

I really didn't take a lot of pictures....wasn't the first thing on my mind if you can imagine!

CANCUN ESTA DE PIE

This really doesn't need any intro or outro. Or words for that matter....

It finally stopped....now what?

Keeping with the theme of Hurricane Wilma, I thought it would be fitting to not blog for the 3 days that the hurricane lasted.

By the afternoon of October 21st, 2005, I'd say that the majority of the people in Cancun were locked away in whatever shelter they could find. It was a ghost town as people waited for who knows what.

CFE (the electric company) decided to turn the electricity off before things got bad. Live electric wires flying all over the place wasn't going to do anyone any good.

Though it was not dark yet, it was obvious that Wilma was certainly powerful. It was powerful enough to take one leaf and rip it up into all sorts of tiny pieces that stuck to whatever they could hold onto. I remember seeing them on my car and others.

I was with my bf at the time and we were pretty bored and doing anything and everything to stay entertained. We watched the wind and the trees in front wondering if they'd hold up. I remember watching the sign on Lopez Portillo (a street) which I wrote about when I left a comment in JJ's blog.

It was wind, rain and whatever else was flying in the air going sideways up the street. In note form, here are some things I remember over the next 3 days:

• BF left after dark. He felt like he needed to go home and check on things. I was worried and the phone system wasn't working for anyone within Cancun (at least not for me). He didn't come back until about 4 am in the morning. The storm was too strong for him to come back but he couldn't remain at his place cuz the neighbours gate had blown open and was bashing up against the cement wall to his bedroom. He was banging on the door for me to let him in, but I couldn't even hear it because it was so noisy.
• When we were looking out the window (before he left) we caught the neighbours tree falling down and crashing onto my car. It cracked the window, dented the roof and hood and took of my sideview mirrors. The BF moved my car to a safer area....altho we should have done that sooner. I purposely parked the car closer to the building thinking it would be safer. Turns out if I had just parked normally I wouldn't have had to spend the money I did to get it fixed.
• The noise was so loud it really was like a freight train coming through my apartment. The noise was something I just wanted to stop. I kept covering my ears and curling up on my bed hoping it would just stop soon.
• My friend Lynda who lives between Cancun and her hometown had messaged me. For some reason I was able to get her messages from the states. I believe Kelly had passed my number on to her and she was feeding me information with regard to the storm. I was grateful because I felt disconnected, not knowing what was out there. I remember her telling me it was right above us and to hang tight because it was still going to be a long while yet....that it really wasn't moving. I remember telling her my apartment was ok and so was I but that my ears were hurting from the pressure. My battery was low and I remember telling her that I was going to turn my phone off to conserve energy. It was a sort of feeling of defeat really.
• I heard some windows break. I had no idea if they were mine or someone elses. I ran throughout the apartment and checked all windows. They were fine. Might have been downstairs. It was really loud.
• Before deciding that I was best off in my bedroom with the door shut, I remember standing at the giant windows in my front room, stretching my arms across them and trying to hold them in. They were bouncing in and out and I was afraid they would just bust. Don't ask me why I would be so stupid, but I figured I had a chance against mother nature.
• I also remember shutting all the doors in my apartment. I figured it was safer without an extra draft running through it.
• I had the candles lit all night long and they flickered even inside from the harsh wind outside.
• The cats stayed close to me on the bed. They didn't sleep. But they sat and waiting calmer than I sure did.
• THE BIRD! I forgot! While it was still daylight, there was this lone bird on a branch outside my bedroom window. He was hiding under a few leaves and throughout the storm I remember checking on him to make sure he was still there. I don't know how that bird did it. But I do remember checking the next day and the leaves were gone, along with the branch...and there certainly was no bird left either. :(
• Cement leaks. All my walls were all wet, along with the ceilings. While my windows held up, they most likely held up because they don't completely seal. So as a result I had a little bit of water on the floors. I did have to move all furniture away from the walls and windows. When I realized where the windows were letting in water and air, I dried them up the next day and taped them around the edges. Boyyyyyy was the second half of wilma a lot quieter after doing that!
• It was probably best to eat some of the parishables for breakfast. But the BF wanted the damn ravioli's. I figured I'd let him but he wanted to eat all of the cans which royally pissed me off. He obviously doesn't understand how to deal with situations like this! (Ya think?)
• The next day, while we were mulling about the apartment I heard Kelly scream my name. She informed me that we were in the eye of the storm and that we have to go through this one more time. My heart sank and I was like NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo. Please no!!! When she agreed she told me that the payphone on the corner was working, that she just called home and that if I have to call anyone to do it now. So I go to the phone and I wait in line. Everyone looked like hell and we were all asking the others how they fared. When it was my turn I followed the same instructions as Kelly. But for some reason, they wouldn't let me make a collect call to Canada this time. I tried to explain to the operator that we were in the middle of a hurricane and to make some acceptions to the rule, considering someone had just done it for my friend. She was a total bitch and refused to assist me in any way. Wanted me to call some number that didn't work. Apparently I screamed something like "We're in the middle of a hurricane you bitch! Thanks for helping!" and hung up. Ignorance is bliss I guess?????
• My landlord came by to check on things. It bothered him that I had the windows open....hello it was hot and stuffy!!!! I promised I'd close him but I told him that everything was ok. In order to enter and exit my apartment, you had to go through the back and around the other side. That tree that had fallen was in the way. It was no easy task, you had climb under and over other trees that had fallen.
• I remember it being so calm in the eye. It was the weirdest thing. What was even weirder was how it was about to hit us from the other side. Everyone passed on whatever information that they had to the other and it didn't matter that you didn't know that person on the street. All of a sudden they were like a long lost relative.
• In all honesty what happened for the second part of hurricane Wilma was a blur. I know it wasn't as powerful but it was still pretty bad.
• The day the hurricane was over, I had some pretty crappy personal news. That made everything worse at which point I kind of became an emotional basket case. Without my good friends, I don't know what I would have done. So thanks to you all. You know who you are. I even bribed Joyce to stay with me a few nights for good food, a working toilet and a shower. :)
• When it was over people slowly crept out of their holes to survey the damage. At first it was just inspection, and immediately it was clean up.
• I grabbed my camera and decided to take whatever pictures I could within the area. I will post them in the next blog along with the Wilma clip I found.
• On my walk, I saw some people with some odd contraption of a phone on the street corner. I have a pic. I was able to dial home for free to let them know I was alright. They were more than willing to help a sistah out!

During the next 10 days, when I did not have power, when curfew was at 7pm and bonfires were the best ways to keep the lights lit and as safe as possible at night, when friendships grew and human contact was of the utmost of importance, when people did things for eachother selflessly, when the bats were confused and flying into walls during the daytime, when Cancun looked like winter because there were no leaves left on the trees, when a tucan outside kelly's window showed us that there was hope, there was color, when Hong Kong had a restaurant area set up in the midst of destruction to provide something other than canned crap, when an old time friend who just happened to be in Cancun tracked me down to make sure I was alright, when A&W Root Beer could be found at City Club (I love my dual picture with Joyce on my membership card...memories), when going to work to clean up the destroyed offices was something to look forward to, when stress was high, when things were sad, when laughs and positivity were cherished.

I eventually escaped Cancun for about 10 days. Considering my personal crap and the Wilma crap, I needed to take myself out of things and get my brain sorted out a little. I took my cats with me....as they had stuck by me all this time and I'd be damned if I would leave them behind at a time like this.

Some people don't want to talk about what happened, some people have actually forgotten. For me, I like to remember, because a lot of good came out of such a disaster. And I lot of strength was proven. To me and to other people who didn't know they had it. So for those of you who have talked about it with me, and those of you have gotten over their guilt (like I said I appreciate your side of things) thank you for being there for me and everyone else.

I'll post some pics and that clip I mentioned. Then I'll shut up about Wilma for those of you who prefer to read about my weekend brawls and words of the day.

Peace out.

Love from,

Rocky a.ka. Sugar Ray Lizzard

Just Before Hurricane Wilma Last Year

I can't believe I forgot about this and didn't mention it in my previous blog. But about a month prior, I had been looking for a new apartment. I had seen some places I wasn't interested in, one I was, but it was too expensive and then I came across the apartment I'm in now. The floor plan is exactly the same as my old apartment except that EVERYTHING was new. New paint, new boiler, new taps, new electric wiring, new fridge....new stove!!! So I decided to take it. It has great energy and it is clean.....no one else's gunk or funk is in there.

I made it so that I would have a window of 15 days to move into the new place. I didn't have a lot to move because I wasn't moving a lot of furniture, but it was enough to stress you out.

I signed the contract and paid so that I could move in on the 15th of October, 2005. The date I had to be out of my old apartment was October 31st...so I figured I could take my time about it all.

But here I was, presented with these images on the internet and talk of Wilma hitting us and being the biggest storm in the Atlantic. I could either remain in my current apartment at this point, or move.

I decided to move and I guess if we skip back a year I would have moved in last night. I did it all by myself, had the movers come and that evening I was in the new place. I remember telling the mover that I was sorry it was such short notice but since we didn't know what was going to happen with the storm I figured it was best to get it over and done with. Thank god for that.

(Special mention goes to Joyce at this time. When we were chatting about the hurricane the other night we were able to put the proper timeline in. Joyce remembers eating at Laguna Grill and feeling guilty that I was moving and she wasn't helping. It really was ok. I did have help but I sent it to hell. Because you know, in the end, "Soy el hombre de la casa" anyways. So thanks Joyce.)

So literally, I moved in about a day and a half before Wilma hit. I used that extra time to unpack and situate everything and also made a couple/several trips to the supermarket.

Actually, I think I hit a couple of supermarkets, Costco and the Oxxo a few times. You just really don't know how to prepare unless you've been in the situation previously. And previously we had over-prepared for no reason with Ivan and with Emily, while it was a bit of a pain, it certainly was not Wilma.

I remember the supermarkets being interestingly different. It was almost a silent stress. All bread and water was pretty much cleared out. People moving about in a slow quiet panic since they don't know what to buy just as much as I don't know what to buy.

Since I thought I was pretty much stalked up (I live alone but grew up in a family of 5...I don't know how to buy for one person. I buy in bulk. It's what I know. So as a result, I have lots of everything...ask Becky. She saw!), I went around and got an odd assortment of items. I remember finding canned ravioli at Soriana and no one else seemed interested in it but I felt like I had hit the gold mine. I also bought crackers and chips which I never usually buy. Cookies, apples, and any sort of non-perishable snack food. Mostly though, that canned ravioli sticks out the most. It ended up being the topic of an argument, breakfast and a gourmet meal to a guest of mine. So I suppose thats why all I can think of is that stupid RAVIOLI!

I also remember people looking at what everyone else was buying. It's almost as thought people had drawn a blank and that all they could think of was water, bread, candles and tape. So if you looked into other people's carts, you might just get an idea.

Oh, I forgot. Amazingly enough, you wouldn't believe how important beer and alcohol is when a major storm is to hit. I think I've seen less beer in tourist shopping carts. Because getting wasted will make it all go away and CERTAINLY hydrate you during desperate times....not to mention, lets add a lot of really salty chips to the mix.

You could see people boarding and taping up their windows. I remember that I should probably go buy a phone card and I did so for Kelly as well and also picked up some tape for her. I did tape up the windows in my old apartment. They were the slat kind, but I didn't do it in my new apartment because they were new windows with little squares that were all enforced.

I had just made the assumption that the bf wouldn't do much, but he actually did make an effort and bought some water and some other things which he contributed to. He's not much for taking things seriously. Just try to phone him when you really need to get ahold of him and you'll understand what I mean! But I digress....

LOL. That's all I can really remember in terms of my preparations. Since I am the bulk queen and all, once I was moved in there was really not much that I did.

Now it was just checking the satellite..........


......and waiting....waiting......watching....looking out the window.....and waiting......

A Year Ago Today - Hurricane Wilma becomes a Hurricane

Though I'd like to forget that we have reached the year mark for Hurricane Wilma, I can't. It's almost as if it's engrained in my system. I literally woke up this morning and the first thing I said, was well, the hurricane was on its way a year ago today. That's pretty much when the real watching and the real preparations started to happen. The funny part is, I know the hurricane was around this time, but I'm not so good with dates especially since the damn thing lasted for three days. But like I said, I woke up this morning and smelled the start of that (forgive my french) BITCH WILMA. I didn't really know it sort of "started" on the 18th of October until I looked it up on the net.

A year before Wilma, we were all prepped for Hurricane Ivan (2004). A friend woke me up in the middle of the night to get me to their house for safety. Before they came I checked the satellite images on the internet and it seemed as the though the big red swirl was already above us. It was strangely exciting (except for that whole facial paralysis part. ME = HATE BP) and it seemed as though we were really ready to take the beast on. It sort of fizzled out and really didn't do much of anything. So all the commotion was I suppose, a waste of time. But we were lucky, it was kind of fun and we didn't have much damage so thank god for that.

A couple of months prior to Wilma we had dealt with Emily. While I had some canned this and that and some water, I didn't run off to the store or anything. I was however, better off than the bf but because he had a solid cement house, we decided to pack it up and spend the night at his place. The bf of course doesn't deal with lack of electricity or sitting put, so when his power went out we had to travel back over to my apartment to check on the electricity. Since I still had it we had dinner at my place and just as we finished up I lost power. So we headed back to the bf's cement block house and waited the storm out. It was windy and rainy, tiring and exciting all at the same time. When the heat was unbearable that bf just went and sat in the air conditioned truck. Poor him. It's amazing at how candles can make a room hot if it's already quite warm in there. In the morning the bf surveyed the area. He came back with stories of downed trees, poles and signs and although there was some damage....it wasn't too bad. He took me on a tour and since neither of us had power, but the hotel zone did, we decided to try and have a nice nite in a hotel. We called every hotel we could to book a night and spent the night with electricity, t.v. and a/c in the hotel zone. It took at least 4 days before I got power again but it wasn't too hard to deal with considering the power in that apartment went off on a regular basis.

So here we are, October 18th, 2006. At this time last year, Wilma had changed from a Tropical Storm (that had formed a couple of days prior -October 15, 2005), to a hurricane. Everyone started to take notice. Especially since Emily. The entire day at work we were getting updates, scoping out the weather and watching people run around the city. While we were certainly taking notice at this point in time...we really didn't know what to make of it.

Here are a couple of the images we stared at blankly:

We wondered if we had to go to work the next day or if we could have it off to prepare for the circular blob heading our way. It's hard to know what is going to happen but due to Emily, we were actually given either a half day or full day off to prepare for Wilma.

We took some precautions in the office. We were on the 4th floor with no other buildings to block us. I had a beautiful view of both the ocean and lagoon and I literally had my desk up against a glass wall. We started moving hard drives and papers. I remember putting all my wires in a plastic bag along with my coveted speakers and I just sort of covered my monitor with plastic. Who the heck knows what is the best way to deal with it. Because my desk had a built in compartment for my hard drive I just figured I'd leave it. Knowing what I know now, we didn't do a very good job of protecting things. We had actually done more when Emily came but we were kind of annoyed that we went through all that trouble of unplugging and moving things when nothing happened to the offices. Just a little flooding but that was normal when it rained hard.

When we left work that night I guess things started to really set in. When you see people boarding up buildings and people sort of running around in a strange quiet, you kind of take note and think, "Hmmm....perhaps I should be running around and doing the same?".

I know I should be....but I figured I would get to it the next day. Don't want to prepare for no reason...

Happy Anniversary???

Friday the 13th was my 4 year anniversary in Cancun. Since it was the 13th and all I just happen to remember it. I'm not one for remembering dates so I guess the fact that I remember it means something.

I suppose I should be excited and proud as some people can barely last a week once they've decided to move here. For some reason it doesn't feel all that exciting to me. While it has been challenging at times and certainly not easy, I'm not so certain I can blame that on the place itself.

There are many times where I have wanted to leave. I can't say that today is one of those days where I'm certain I should remain.

Many people come to make money, to escape something back home, to fall in love, to fall out of love, to try something new, to be by the beach, to be warm the entire year round and never have to see another snow flake ever again. Many people come and don't care if they are dirt poor, just as long as they can be in the place that they think is the answer to everything, that they think is a place of true happiness.

But what happens when you do want to see snow again? Or hear the silence of a snowflake dropping? What happens when you need to see the indescribable blue colours of that beautiful ocean. What happens when you want to hear the waves crawling up onto the sand that you love to sink your toes in. What happens if your therapy becomes a nightclub because it is your only chance to escape without losing it all? What happens the next day when you are hung over, have a cat for a tongue and feel too horrible to even sleep it off.

I am fortunate enough to say I have met true friends here. I am fortunate to say that I have enough money to go out to a nice dinner if I feel like it. I am fortunate enough to have a nice apartment and car to drive around in. I am fortunate to have enough water, electricity and a pretty much bug free household most times during the year. (Excluding hurricane times of course when water was scarce, electricity non-existant and bugs were a welcome because they made it, just like you did.)

I am also fortunate to have a home back home where I come from. Good friends and family who could finally breathe a sigh of relief if I were to return. Because don't you know, "I am making a huge mistake by living here!".

In the end I have been very lucky, very blessed and very certain that I am rich in many many ways. In ways that a lot of people will just never know. Or in ways that many people are jealous of.

So congrats to me. We'll see where I am this time next year.

Left or Right Brained?

I just took this test to tell you whether or not you dominate your thinking by the left or the right side of your brain. My co-workers have already taken it so if they are reading this I suppose this is a repeat. If I don't work with you, take it and let me know the results.

HERE IT IS

And if you are interested in my results, they are as follows:

Mexico Way, you are Balanced-brained

That means you are able to draw on the strengths of both the right and left hemispheres of your brain, depending upon a given situation.

When you need to explain a complicated process to someone, or plan a detailed vacation, the left hemisphere of your brain, which is responsible for your ability to solve problems logically, might kick in. But if you were critiquing an art opening or coming up with an original way to file papers, the right side of your brain, which is responsible for noticing subtle details in things, might take over.

While many people have clearly dominant left- or right-brained tendencies, you are able to draw on skills from both hemispheres of your brain. This rare combination makes you a very creative and flexible thinker.

The down side to being balanced-brained is that you may sometimes feel paralyzed by indecision when the two hemispheres of your brain are competing to solve a problem in their own unique ways.

My most favorite part is what it says about the the down side part. That seems to be an issue these days. It is not the actual problem that's the problem! It's my brain and the competing that goes on between the two sides!

Well that helps me......NOT!

Happy Halloween Take 2

CLICK HERE

Happy Halloween Take 1

CLICK HERE

Word of the Day

Wackadoo

If I told you the truth....

.....you'd probably think of my blog as some soap opera show.

But you don't always get to read about it because I'm busy when I think, hey, this would be pretty good to blog about. Like last night I was out having a few with the chicas and I remember going, oh that would be funny to blog about, and what about that! But I didn't have my computer in front of me.

I'm pretty much going to leave you hanging on that one but I'm sure I'll give you bits and pieces of it at a later date.

I'm going to kick Becky's ass for telling me there was a new Grow game out. I have spent the last hour learning a lot about the order that shit should go in but haven't yet been able to figure it out on my own. Here is the link. The object of the game is to click things in the right order to finish the game. A hint to give you is that you have to put the blobs down one after the other or else they turn into grave stones. It is addicting and something I recommend to distract you at work.

Note: This is in no way encouragement not to do your job and screw around. But if you do it, RIGHT ON! So do I!

Well it's close to eleven and I hope I can get some sleep considering I slept most of the day away. Gee I wonder why....

Last thing I remember is, "Holy shit. It's daylight already!"

Hypocrites!

You know, I think I'm winning the battle over here with blog updating. Don't you think the person that complained should quadruple her blogs since well....she has requested that others update their blogs as well? So for every person that she requests blogs for she should blog. That has not happened.

I'm sure she has stuff to blog about since she has those skitzos in her brain. But maybe the voices are telling her no! Blog way less than everyone else!

Just kidding. HA.

At work we discussed the difference between being skitzo, bipolar, having multiple personalty disorder and disasociative disfug (temp. bout of amnesia).

I have diagnosed a couple of people. My most favorite was the one who has bipolar and multple personality disorder.

I'm not telling you who it is but I'm certain you can figure it out (co-worker-friends aren't allowed to guess since they know already).

It's time to go now. Bye bye!

Bitchlog #20649

Like I said in previous blogs, I am beginning to think that all these blogs are for is bitching about crap. GYNORMOUS CRAP. I mean I'm not a gushy girl so I'm not going to run to my blog and be like, "OH MY GOD, like oh my god!!! I'm so happy happy happy!!!! Someone said I looked pretty today and that I lost a gynormous amount of weight! Like oh my god!!! I feel so special!"

Can you say barf?

Todays word should be BARF. Ten ways to say barf are (including barf for good measure):

1) Barf
2) Spew
3) Hurl
4) Puke
5) Vomit
6) Toss your cookies
7) Ralph
8) Motion Sickness
9) Up-Chuck
10)Throw Up

I got that from a contest on the radio. My brother and I were both listening and between the two of us we got them before the caller did. Every once in a while we re-do the test. The funny part is that I got stuck on the last one which is quite obvious and should have been the first...but you know. "Ralph, Spew and Barf" take precedent over normal words like "vomit" and "throw up".

So yeah I meant to start bitching but somehow got sidetracked. Funny how that happens. But its called a flow of conversation. Unlike men who are basically confined to conversation in chunks. Money, job, women, sex, tits, money, cars, other men, money, motorcycles, ass, money, work, hot chicks, "oh man i remember this one night when i got so hammered and...". You see where I'm getting at? I mean you wouldn't normally know this, but when guys get together...thats how it goes. I'm not shittin you.

So anyways. Back to Bitchlogging.

So you ever have one of those days (I've had more than one in case you haven't noticed already), where your in a shit mood and really don't want to deal with any crap. But instead of just staying put, cuz that would be way too boring, you go to Wal Mart to shop. Like THAT would be a stressfree experience but if people would just leave you alone and be a little tiny bit considerate it would make life much better. Here are some of my annoyances:

1) Your cart is sitting in the middle of the fucking isle. You see me coming. You walk away from the cart. The best is when you take a break in the middle of the isle to breastfeed or have a family meeting and refuse to get out of the way.

2) You see me coming down the right side of the isle. It is quite clear that you are on the wrong fucking side, but yet, you don't move. ( I was told that by making someone else move you are showing that you are superior to them.) One day i had a show down and actually threw my hands up and said "QUE?" and then crossed them as if to show I wasn't going nowhere ESPECIALLY since YOU don't have a freaking cart full of shit that you are pushing around! Well I SURE SHOWED HER? (I mean seriously, it was just retarded and I was subject to retardation but I felt better for it as that was also a bad day, and I now have a story to tell!)

3) I leave my cart because it sucks to push it every where (Refer to points 1 and 2). I come back to my cart. And its gone! GONE. People steal carts!

4) Someone takes something out of your cart, and puts it into theirs.

5) Someone puts something that you don't want into your cart.

6) Someone is standing right in front of where you want to look, they aren't even looking in that area. They SEE you trying to squirm your way in and they still don't move. You say "EXCUSE ME" and they STILL don't move. I mean WTF?

7) You are standing in line and someone completely ignores you and cuts the line. NO ONE ELSE says shit to them but when you do, they act like they had NO IDEA. Yeah right. Kiss my ass how about? And then the other people are like, hey! Yeah! Jesus. Do you not know how to speak up on your own?

8) Personal space. When I'm standing in line, or ANYWHERE for that matter, do not stand so close to me that if I move 1cm, I touch you. Also, don't stand so close to me that you ARE touching me. And without concern I might add. Don't stand so close that I can smell your bad breath. Don't stand so close that I can hear the conversation (both ways) that you are having on your cell phone. Not to mention, the people ten isles down can here it.

9) Please don't ram your cart into my ass. It's big, and very noticeable, so don't pretend you don't see it.

10) Don't inspect my cart like it's something to shop from. Mind your business.

11) Don't get cute with me. I'm not your friend, I don't want to "chit-chat", it's none of your business what kind of cat or dog I have. Don't ask me if I like vegetables and most CERTAINLY stop undressing me with your eyes and following me around like a sick puppy.

12) If you think lines at the farmacia exist, forget it. BUDGE BUDGE BUDGE your way otherwise you will get pushed all the way out the front door.

13) Don't expect to find your favorite anything to be there all the time. It's a joke. Sometimes it's there.....and sometimes it's just not. I don't get why they just can't keep shit in stock?

14) I didn't have time to go to the club this week, but never-fear. There are chicks in ugly skimpy outfits and men with microphones jumping around to "hip" tunes that are blasting throughout the market. Walk by and you may have time to dance, get a number or try a sample of a salchicha.

15) Please dont put the acid in the same bag as my poultry. And please don't use one bag per item.

16) I totally also love it how there is no room in the isle you want to pass through, but lets just put in more crap that you can't manouever around. Which of course forces you to leave your cart behind which can result in numbers 3, 4, 5 and 10.

I have come to the conclusion that I can just go on and on and on about this! Oh my! Don't you have all day!

I have really wanted to post "Road Rules" but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe another day as I'm sure you are loving my lists.

I suppose my blog could be tied in with that JJ's blog called "What happened to Kindness?". But maybe mine is more a, consideration thing. "Whatever happened to people being fucking CONSIDERATE?".