A Year of Change

We had a fun trip to Caye Caulker but it was a little rough coming back. The boys and I sat up top in the open air next to the Captain and it was windy and bumpy due to the choppy water. The little island was like a third world country which this is too. After all, we are in Central America. Today we are all headed out for more snorkeling, this time to an area called the Mexican Rocks.

The wind was blowing hard all night long and the food is still great. We roamed around San Pedro yesterday afternoon after we got off the water taxi from Caye Caulker. A couple more days and we’ll be headed home, hope everyone is well, God Bless.

Today after breakfast we’re taking the water taxi to Caye Caulker which is the next island up to the north. I convinced Maria, our chef/hostess, extraordinaire to accompany us. The boat ride is 30 minutes so we’ll hop the 10:30, arrive at 11, and then spend the next couple hours shopping the local art and having some lunch. Speaking of local art, after jet skiing today, which was a blast, one of the local women Lori met the other day, came back with loads of colorful fabrics and baskets she hand made. She carries it all in a bundle on top of her head. It’s like something out of National Geographic. Needless to say, the boys each have a new Central American backpack! She’s coming back tomorrow with a few things the misses requested that I think she’s making by hand tonight.

Later in the day six of us walked down the beach to the Victorian Hotel to have a drink at their beach bar to celebrate our anniversary. We left the kids at the house and they swam and played. I thought I had on a shirt with build in SPF (sunscreen) but I don’t think it does as I think I am even redder than I was this morning! Tomorrow for sure I’ll be wearing a golf shirt with 50 SPF!

The food is over the top, the weather is just as perfect and best of all, Lori doesn’t have a headache, not even a smidgen. The internet connection is flawless, the pool is perfect and there are flat screen tv’s with all the channel in each room. We of course are not watching much tv but it’s nice to be able to turn it on in the morning and late at night.

Lastly, a couple came by this afternoon and climbed the palm trees and harvested a bunch of coconuts. We’ve been eating them for days but they showed us how to get the green ones and then open them up and the coconut is almost custard like, the water inside is good too!

That’s it for today, hope everyone is well, no one wants to leave here, it’s that freakin nice! Lots of people from the States, especially Colorado! More to come, take care and God Bless.

Libby and Carl arrived last night around 5pm just in time for dinner. We all bombarded her with our dermatology questions just to get it out of the way. This morning they headed off for some snorkeling which can’t be over-rated. I’m still in awe of what lies beneath the surface of the ocean. Lori wants us all to get certified so we can go scuba diving next time down here or at the ocean.

The big news of the day is that 14 years ago today, I was lucky enough to marry little Lori! It’s still hard to believe just how blessed I was as she’s such a good girl. So to celebrate our anniversary, we have two jet skis being delivered so all the kids here can have some fun. How’s that for a celebration, making sure the kids have fun. The joys of being parents!

Other members of our group took off at 7am to go to Lamanai where the old Mayan ruins are.

It was too long of a trip (all day) and too expensive ($600 U.S.!) for us to go. Mr. Ty would have been ready to come back to the pool before the boat even reached the river where we would have transferred to another boat for the trip up river. It would have been an Indiana Jones type trip! We’ll see pictures tonight.

The kids are in heaven as they have Fanta Soda here in all the flavors and it is really really good. Maria’s cooking though is the best. She makes some kind of fresh pie every night, key lime, chocolate, coconut cream, all of them. We had fresh conch, coconut shrimp, chicken, beans and rice, salad and other stuff last night for dinner. The huevos rancheros (eggs) for breakfast have become Lori’s favorites. Tomorrow the girls will take a water taxi to a neighboring island for some shopping. She might also go scuba diving Thursday while I fish.

That’a about it, I’m really sun burned on the front and back from only 15 minutes yesterday after snorkeling without sunscreen. I’ll be ok but will keep a shirt on all day today.

Hope all’s well, take care, God Bless.

Ok, today we went fishing with Roberto out towards the reef which is second only in size to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We caught about 15 fish that Maria cooked up for dinner. Throw in some sun and fun and Pina Colada’s and it was a great day. I’m almost all better and the boys are both over sunned already. Today we’re heading out with Carlos to Shark Ray ally to go snorkeling and see some fish. The weather is wonderful, sun with a nice breeze. It doesn’t seem that hot as the wind keeps it just nice enough so you don’t notice. We’re on the leeward side meaning downwind so that’s why we get the cool breeze. In fact it was so windy last night I thought it was raining but it was just the wind blowing through all the palm trees. All in all, this is really darn close to heaven. So glad we came!

God Bless

Ok, the night before we left I was the sickest I’ve been that I could remember! I had no sleep, and thought is was food poisoning. Anyhow I had to get up, get everyone on the plane, and take off. I was sweating so much on the first plane I thought I was going to pass out. We made it to Belize only to miss our flight at 1:40 and finally were on a 3:20. Jagger sat up in the co-pilot seat for our 15 minute flight over to the island.

The house is amazing, Maria and her cooking are like being at the 4 Seasons and the weather is well, amazing. Maria is making breakfast now, (I slept since we arrived), and we’re going fishing with Roberto at 8am. I missed most of last night as I just couldn’t even stand, but am 90% better now, still don’t know what I had but I have to go fishing with Jagger as Roberto is booked all week long. More to come later but we’re here safe and sound, eating fresh coconuts from the dozens of palm trees and the boys are in the pool with our 3 chefs, 2 maids, golf carts, sun and the tropical breezes. Unbelievable! We’re very very lucky!

God Bless.

Up at 3am to head to the islands man! We should arrive at our destination by noon California time. Thankfully we have several great people watching the house and Mojo. I bought Mojo 6 bones for treats along with some fish. We’ll post daily and keep everyone updated. We all need and deserve a relaxing restful time which it should be. Time to run so take care and God Bless.

Yup, no time again, we, or I, have so much to do before Spring Break starts tomorrow. I almost woke up, well I did, at 3am, but went back to sleep, I should have just stayed up! Both Lori and I had work dreams all night long worrying about things we have to do. Oh well, I’ve always said, no one’s on their death bed saying, “I wish I worked more”.

Lori needs to go in early this morning and I have a sales meeting at the distributor at 10:50 this morning. Jagger has baseball practice from 4 to 6 and we need to finish getting packed. We’ll be able to post but might be a little late each morning. That’s about it, time to run God Bless.

Our house is such a mess it looks like we are hoarders. There is crap everywhere. Today, or rather this morning, I’m purging with no restraint as you can’t even walk in some rooms. Lots of wine boxes help contribute to the mess but that’s no excuse. As an example, there’s a box of glass vases that have been sitting on the steps to the kitchen table for easily a month or two. I don’t know, or care, where they came from, who owns them or what they’re for, I’m trashing anything that has been sitting in the same place for over 60 days or hasn’t been played with or worn in six months. This may sound harsh but I have to or we’ll drown in all this junk.

I started this a few weeks ago but with Lori now working full time, lost my way for a bit as I had to pick up some other duties like grocery shopping, taking and picking up the kids plus it’s one of the two busiest months of the year for me at work with our pre sells.

So the trash guy gets here in about 90 minutes so time to get started. Be well, take care and God Bless.

P.S. Happy 1st day of Spring!

This morning I need to run up to the mountains and be there by 9am. I should be back in Denver before 11 so it’s just a quick trip. Then I need to go to the dermatologist and then run up north to a buddy’s place. I should make it home just in time to go get the kids from school. Jag has baseball from 4 until 6 and Ty has D.I. from 3 until 5. So there you have it, a busy day. Lori will have to leave work in time to pick up Ty so we should all be home a little after 6pm.

It’s in the teens this morning but should get to the mid 50’s. I think (hope) Lori’s head is getting better. I ran a Z Pak (antibiotic) to her at her office yesterday and a few minutes ago she said she feels better. Of course she’s half asleep as it’s 5am but hopefully she is actually feeling better. I also managed to get my haircut and make it to the distributor twice yesterday for a meeting to set new wine prices for April 1st. That’s right, prices are going up! You see, the Euro is not cooperating with the dollar and we need more margin.

Guess I’ll get moving, I’m staying away from politics but understand that what’s going on with Russia and us is not good at all. This could easily escalate out of control to a military confrontation which would be no good for anyone, especially us. But I wouldn’t put anything pass this administration. In fact, throughout history, whenever any government is in trouble economically or politically, they try to find a war to start or join. Let’s pray that cooler heads prevail as we will come out on the short end in any war, militarily or economically, with Russia and its allies including China and others. The main fear is what they can do to the dollar. They can cripple us without firing a single shot if they stop buying or using U.S. currencies. It’s complicated if you don’t understand it but Putin is no dummy and is shrewd and calculated being the former head of the Russian KGB. Many say our President is not even in the same league with this guy and so far, they appear to be right.

I would get some extra food and take some extra cash out of the bank. Warren Buffet and other billionaires are frantically selling off U.S. stocks as I write this and have been doing so for a couple of weeks. What do they know or fear that you don’t? Hold on people, it’s about to get bumpy. Keep your powder dry, God Bless.

Well maybe, we were planning on a date night but now we’re not so sure. Uncle T and Aunt B were going to watch the boys but then the Harris’s said they might just grab them after school. On top of that, Lori has had a headache for a few days, we’re praying it’s allergies or something. I called last night to get a ZPak called in for her as we’ll try anything to get rid of it. Hopefully it’s not the bad headache from the last three years coming back. She’s been looking down a lot at work which just isn’t good. If she’s not feeling well, we’ll just stay home.

This morning, in like an hour, I need to run to the distributor and then be back by 8am to take the kids to school. It’ll be tight as traffic is no fun in the mornings around here.

It’s been windy around here and the weather has been all over the place for the last month or so. At one point it was 75 degrees yesterday and now maybe snow today, hmmm.

Time to run, hope all’s well, God Bless.