El Cascabel and our Mariachi

This Mexican coffee was amazing! Kahlua and Tequila, flambe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BfoYTwjjeQ

I'm a great one for anticipation --- make that long term research. I spent happy hours reading about Mexico and things related. Such as Mariachi. Real Mariachi. I listened to this different kind of music on YouTube. And enjoyed it!

So, when faced with real a Mariachi group, I knew exactly what song to request! I took great delight in surprising my dinner mates by knowing a neat mariachi song to request.
Our mariachi group was really good, they had brass and strings and vocals. It was really fun, even if Ed's expression doesn't indicate it.

The Little Bell
Your little bell is so pretty.
Tell me, darling, who gave it to you?
Nobody did, I bought it myself
With my own money.
Whoever wants a little bell
Ought to buy it like I did
Oh, how it rings and resonates
Rings and goes on ringing
My little bell, through the arena.
Last night through the window,
I was chatting with Leonor.
She asked me to play “El cascabel”
In a minor key,
And that I not delay.
She asked me as a favor.
If my little bell still sounded,
I wouldn't want to exchange it for anything.

La Habichuela

Tiny Dark Chocolate mice adorn my dessert at one restaurant.

Isla Mujeres

Walking through Harris Teeter this evening, I noticed the can of beans that was labeled "Habichuela"

Wow, that brought back memories of a very interesting evening! In Cancun, we had ask for directions to a good local Mexican restaurant. Not wanting the Americanized fare, we opted to take the R-2 bus into town. From the bus station, we would walk a few blocks. Only problem was, when the six of us reached the bus station, we weren't sure which way to go. People tried to help us, but our Spanish is not so good. We were asking to find "La Parilla", which I think translates into "The Grill", which must be fairly common. To make a confusing evening shorter - We walked through dark alleys, stumbled upon a Policia station, where the men were scary looking in all black and wearing large sidearms strapped over their shoulders.

The bus ride itself was a real neat experience, crowded with the hotel workers and costing only 7 and a half pesos (.70cents.) The local guys and kids play guitars and sing, then pass the hat. I really enjoyed this! They were good, especially the little boy.

Anyway, I was very tense and worried the more we walked. After we saw the policia, I was pretty freaked out. Complaining mucho to Ed - somehow its all his fault -- I wanted to just get back to the hotel...Just then, a lovely beautiful restaurant appeared. It was called La Habichuela. A lovely patio, soft candles on the tables. Pretty Mexican music playing and a quiet place, I would have loved to have eaten there. But, it was not the recommend restaurant. So, we stumbled on.

Finally, we reached La Parilla. It was filled with all American tourists. It was obnoxious and loud. It was funny though, and fun. It was OK food, we didn't puke eating it anyway. We found the bus station and caught the R-2 back.

Later that night in the room, I read in a tour guide book I had, that Le Habichuela was a top restaurant! Four Stars!!!! Great food ratings too. Opportunity inadvertently missed, oops!
Guess we'll have to go back!!

Mexico

I just wanted to think a little bit about the trip before it fades into the oblivion on what is left of my mind.
First of all, Cancun is very very commercial. The resorts were all very close together and you can look left or right from your resort and see others. There is a long strip of beach, several miles long, with probably hundreds of nice big resorts. Very American too, many typical American tourists and very much English speaking.
Interestingly- there was a tiny actual Maya ruin right against our hotel. It look pretty obvious that the ruins had been roped off and were more or less preserved. I couldn't even get to them, there path from our hotel to the ruins was blocked off by the continuing construction on our hotel. They aren't finished yet! I could see them though, and they did look interesting. I'm sure they have been messed up and pillaged though.
As we walked the beach, we observed that the beach was quite narrow with rough surf and a dangerous undertow. People were in the water, but you could not snorkel there. At our hotel, you could walk the narrow strip of pretty white sand, but the ocean clearly was marked with red flag alerts, meaning "Don't go in here."
There were hotels that were so close the ocean that you could not walk past. In Mexico all beaches are public, so you were allowed to go to any beach, but some were too narrow to be of any use.
I think the beaches in St. John were nicer.
Florida beaches are much broader and nicer, although the sand isn't as nice, nor is the color of the water. But, in Hawaii, I could walk out in the water and snorkel immediately, no need of going to any special place. But Hawaii beaches were a bit rough with the rocks and volcanic sand. All are different. In general, I think the East Coast beaches (Dewey, Mrytle, Daytona) are nicest for walking and playing around. They are broader sand shoulders and easier waves. Snorkeling is good in St. John and Maui.

Given all this, I enjoyed Cancun though.

I think I was perhaps looking for a more natural side of Mexico. When we took the bus to Chichen Itza, it was a "luxury" bus. This meant it was air conditioned, had roomy comfortable seats and tables in some of the seating areas. There was TV for the video of Chichen Itza they played part of the trip. They served us food and drinks, lots of cervesa. (So, I couldn't really hear the TV - lots of laughter and fun talking.) That was a good thing, since it was vacation after all. I looked out the window a lot, and at one point we passed a Mexican village of sorts. Lots of grass thatched roofs. I saw a woman washing clothes outside in a tub and hanging them on a line.

At Chichen Itza, there were quite a few vendors. You have to negotiate the prices with them. They are good! The statue I bought broke in my suitcase on the flight home. Just crumbled. Some kind of poor quality plaster of paris stuff. White powder stuff...humm...how did I get passed that dog in Customs?

I took a Spanish lesson at the resort. It was taught poolside at the swim up pool bar. The phrase of the morning was "uno mas tequila por favor"

I also participated in the water aerobics, with a cute Mexican instructor. I think he liked Amy, as he partnered up with her every chance he got. He was thinking of "exercises" he could demonstrate on Amy == stress relief, rub your partners shoulders....Now stroke his/her ears....LOL (I was partnered with an old lady from Wisconsin.) (No offense to old ladies or Wisconsin -- both perfectly nice.)

We ask the conceirge for restaurant recommendations. We ended up at Chilis that night. One night we ended up walking through dark lonely alleys, lost. Not good! There were a ton of American fast food places, Outback, McDonalds and such. We wanted things we would not have at home.

We stumbled upon a beautiful steakhouse called Harrys. It was really a great, beautiful restaurant and the food was wonderful. Even the bathrooms were beautiful, my stall had a floor to ceiling glass wall that looked out onto an atrium and had a view of the sky! Awesome!
I think we have photos of the bathroom on Brenda's camera....

Ed at Harry's
Yes - They brought us pink cotton candy for dessert! Now, how Mexican is that experience? As you can see, we're easily impressed gringos.

Vacation recedes into the rear view mirror..........

I can still remember how warm my skin felt under that hot Mexican sun though!! But, I guess I thrive on a schedule, as I'm feeling a bit more balanced today.

I knew I had to resume my focus on health, so I went to another Weight Watchers group today at work for a weigh in. Depending on your perspective, it was good news, very good news indeed.

I gained +.2 of a pound! That's all! That was over a two week period!!! We did quite a bit of activity on the trip, so that was in my favor. I did select chicken and fish for my main meals, but I thought sure the Margaritas would be my nemesis. I vacationed a bit from my WW plan, but that is OK too. I'm back on it now.

Really, in my plus sized world that is a real win. I resumed working out last night, but the ellipticals were all in use, so I did 30 minutes on the treadmill + the Cybex weight circuit. Also, did some arm work using the free weights. Nice workout.

My tendon in my foot is doing OK. Not perfect, but it is OK. I guess the shot of steroid worked then. I'm trying to take good care of it, but don't know what I could do differently. I am a little leary of doing too much, afraid my foot problems will flair up. I don't want that to happen.

Ed is in Alaska, its cold there. We might cancel our cross-country drive in April. We just don't know yet, whether they will have all the paperwork in order by then. They are dumb. Oh Well.

Cenote near Chichen Itza

Near Chichen Itza, there was a Cenote we were able to visit. A cenote is basically a large hole in the limestone. This whole area is limestone in the Yucatan, with underground rivers. The holes allow swimming in the 69 degree water, among other things. (other things have included human sacrafice in the past...)

Joey and Amy were our brave ones who actually went swimming in the cenote. This meant jumping off a ledge a long way above the water surface. The surface of the cenote was 90 some steps down, with only a wooden hand made ladder to get yourself out of the water. The cenote is very deep. Archeologists have found very interesting things in cenotes. Apparently in the past offerings were made to the gods. So, gold and silver items are among those things found, as well as pottery and tools. Very cool.

Its all Good!

Today I was lucky. I got to live a whole day pretty much as I wanted to. Which is really saying something!
Ed was home with me, so we got to walk to the Metro and ride to work together. That is very nice and I really like that.
My boss gave me the morning to attend at IT Expo at the DC Convention Center. So, I got to ride all the way to Gallery Place with Ed. Cool. I walked a few blocks from the red line down 7th to the Convention Center and it was an absolutely beautiful morning for walking. I had time to stop at a Starbucks and enjoy Oatmeal and a good cup of coffee. Great!!
The keynote speaker was a good speaker and very interesting to boot. I spent time at the exhibits and got cool free stuff.

I never take for granted the ability to walk. Today I could walk! Hallelujah!

I left the Convention Center about 11AM, used my iPhone to look for restaurants near me...found a cool little one, wood fired pizza and salads. I walked the several blocks to the restaurant. I choose to eat healthy and this restaurant didn't let me down! They had awesome white bean soup, with a drizzle of olive oil. It was awesome.

I walked a couple more blocks and hopped on a Circulator bus, which took me to the National Mall. There, I walked through the Sculpture Garden and on to the Natural History Museum. I hadn't been inside since the renovations! It was very very nice, and I got to see the Darwin Orchid special exhibit.

I walked back to the Metro and booked it back to Bethesda, for my 1:30 meeting with my boss. I worked until 5:30, but it was worth it. My boss sort of panics when I have leave scheduled, wants me to be sure to have everything done before I leave the office on Friday for the week off.

I was so very happy to be out of my windowless office, you can't know.

Today I embraced walking in DC.
I didn't freak out at the huge expo, just mellowed and enjoyed!

Just for today, I focused on living in the moment. Tonight I'm still savoring those moments, the orchids, the beauty of the museum, the good soup for lunch. The ability to walk without too much pain. At least I had today!

I am so much looking forward to seeing the kids this weekend - I can hardly wait! Sunshine and family, friends...I want to savor and bottle each minute.

This was a really nice day!

Another week...not Another Week!!!

Today was Weigh-In day --- really should have been Monday, but that was my snow day (Hurrah!)

So, I went to the other WW group at work, and so my weight loss this week was -1 lb.

This brings me to a grand total of 62.4 lbs. lost since last June. As you can see, it is a slow and moderate pace. This other group is a fun group and a nice leader, so I really enjoy stopping over and seeing them every now and then.

My little hurt place on my foot is hurting a lot more, so I have to give up my workout routine for tonight and last night. I'm trying not to panic, this is only a couple of missed workouts. I remember how quickly the habit of working out leaves and the weight relapse begins. My leader says "Relapse is OK, just not Total Collapse." So, this will be a momentary pause. I get to see the Podiatrist tomorrow.

I had a great dinner tonight. Ed left a few baggies of fresh chopped veggies in the hydrator, green peppers, onions, and red peppers. I added chopped mushrooms and grated really great Reggiano cheese (only 1/2 oz. ) I browned the veggies in a little oil, then added the Egg Beaters for a great skillet dinner. I brewed a cup of Vienna coffee and used fat free cream. Really nice dinner!

I'm making my lunch for tomorrow, turkey sandwich, Chipotle mustard, low fat cheese.
Fuji apple, some tomato salad, and a banana. I'll have oatmeal for breakfast as usual.

It will be warmer tomorrow, so that will be nice. The sun was out today and that cheers me up.

One thing I disliked the most was eating dinner alone. Well, if you count the cats staring at me...

March comes in like a Lion here

Federal Government in the metropolitan DC area experiences a two hour delay.

Wow, that's nice to hear on a cold Monday morning. I just stayed in bed with the TV on.
Eventually I managed to log in and read my email, let my boss know I couldn't navigate the icy sidewalks and get to the office. No one else in my office showed up either. We really only got about 3 or 4 inches here, but it was enough!

Ed is working this week in his California office. His flight out of Dulles last night was canceled, so he sat at Dulles until 10PM and then took a flight to Chicago. I worked the online system from here, and managed to snag a hotel room for him at O'Hara. So, he was able to sleep and shower and took off this morning about 9:30 from O'Hara to Sacramento. He is all good, had all his meds with him and all went fine.

We've all been texting and sending photos back and forth. Joey has no work today and a lot more snow that we do. Amanda has ducks and 90 degrees and sunshine! Talk about having "conditions!" Wish I were there today!

The ease of texting each other has certainly enhanced our family life. I think this makes it a whole lot more possible to survive, perhaps even thrive, in the bi-coastal marriage. We did get Ed into the SMS world of texting. We are considering a new laptop of his own so he can participate in Skype or have a camera enabled device. (His gov't phone is not camera enabled.) I have mentioned a MAC for his little apartment, but he has no Mac experence, only PC. So he is reluctant to try it. His typing skills are a barrier to this newer communication, but he is working with it. Great one finger typist. He has gov't computers and laptops, but we don't want to download Skype to a gov't machine. We are thinking about the little netbook machines...like the 399 ones at Target, but don't know if they would be good enough...keyboard size might be a little harder to type on...not sure...screen size would be a little small.
I love my Lenovo 11" machine. the U110. It is light and easy...good sized keyboard and screen.
Mine is camera enabled too, but it was not a cheap machine. I have an external BluRay DVD with it, which isn't needed really.

Well, I digress.

Back to my green tea and frozen grapes and almonds. Maybe I'll go downstairs and walk on the elliptical for a while.

I have a hurting place on my foot, but not hurting too much. The podiatrist called to cancel today. So, I'll just rub a little more lotion on it. I'm trying to take great care of my all important feet and thanking God for each moment I can hop on the elliptical or walk to the Metro. Having been through a painful period with my feet, I know how devastating it is to lose the ability to walk. Now I know the uphoria of being able to resume normal walking behavior! Yay!! Whoo Hoo....Losing even 10 lbs. takes about 50lbs of pressure off the feet, ankles and knees for each step. I love my healthy snacks!