You have GOT to see this!

It will make you smile - I promise.

Where The Hell Is Matt?

Look at it -- just do it!





Did you look at it yet?

The photos are coming -- really!

I have heard people complaining that our vacation photos aren't up yet. Between the regular digital camera and the underwater digital camera, we took 700+ photos and video. We (i.e., The Husband) are still sorting through them and deleting the unnecessary shots. The Husband is also putting together a video of our underwater exploits (including great footage of sea turtles, sting rays, eagle rays and the barracuda).

They're coming -- honest! Stay tuned. My tan, on the other hand, is already faded ("tan" being a relative term...).

We're home

...and two and a half tons of laundry is done (minor exaggeration).


Okay - here's a wrap up of our wonderful week in paradise:

• Snorkeling in Half Moon Bay (right outside our hotel patio)
• Snorkeling in Yal Ku Lagoon
• Swimming at the beach in Tulum
• Great Mexican food (including grouper, octopus, lots o enchiladas, tequila, salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, Dos Equis and Corona!)
• Lounging on beach chairs under palapas
• Snorkeling in Akumal Bay
• Climbing up a huge Mayan temple at Cobá (higher than the one at Chichén Itzá!)
• Getting safely down from the huge Mayan temple at Cobá
• Swimming in a super cool underground cenote
• Butchering "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" at karoke night at La Buena Vida
• No major sunburn (just a little pinkage and 2-3 more freckles)
• Enjoying the Dogs of Akumal romping and playing everywhere
• Watching the entire Academy Award broadcast at an event in the town of Akumal (complete with buffet and red carpet)

With two digital cameras (one made for underwater photos), we took nearly 800 photos (gotta love those 2GB memory cards!).

We had great luck -- our transportation (airplane, taxis, collectivos, etc.) were there when we wanted them, and our hotel was a good walk to and from town (getting a little exercise helps when eating and drinking like we did!). All in all, a great vacation!

So now I return to "normal" again. (Sigh.) That's okay... it's work that allows us to occasionally skip town and swim in coral reefs!

Photos are being organized and highlights will be posted soon!

Akumal Bay Today

Yesterday's excursion to Tulum was most enjoyable. We did not snorkel... but we did do some good old fashioned splashing in the waves. Tulum's beach is better for swimming because the coral reef is not so close. There's much more sand to romp and play in while getting tossed around by the waves. Big fun.

We toured the main drag in town, checked out the gift shops, then noticed clouds overhead just as we headed to a recommended restaurant for lunch. We ordered lunch and as we got our drinks, the rain started. Perfect timing! The funny part is that the two roofs of the restaurant does not quite connect with each other... and the rain came pouring in. It was very amusing (especially because our table was under the sidewalk overhang and we were dry). We sat by the entertainment -- a guy with two synthisizers playing lounge music -- and I did get a little worried when I saw the water from the rooftop fountain nearing his power strip (right by my feet). He did not seem to care and just moved the power strip on to the keyboard stand and kept playing. He played "Raindrops are Falling on My Head" and we all laughed. By the time we were done eating, the rain had stopped. Again, perfect timing!

We headed to the playa (beach) and rented two chairs under a palapa. After hours relaxing and swimming, we dried off and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was an Asian place, and I had the best pad Thai I have ever had in Mexico!

Tomorrow we're going on a tour of the ruins at Coba. We'll be inland a bit, so no nice ocean breeze... but we will have shade. More to come!

If it's Tuesday, we must be in Tulum

Hola!

Yesterday, we went snorkeling in Yal Ku lagoon twice (once in the morning and again in the afternoon). It was a place where fresh water from underground rivers mixes with the salt water of the sea. There was coral and many beautiful fish. The Husband saw a barracuda and a sting ray (photos to come). Fortunately, the barracuda must have just eaten -- he did not seem concerned about The Husband's proximity.

Today, we're hopping on a collectivo to visit the town of Tulum. Collectivos are vans that goes up and down the main highway picking up and dropping off locals and tourists from town to town. It's cheaper than a taxi -- but we have to walk to the main highway to get one.

We have already visited the Tulum ruins, but we have not been to the city. It's a bigger city than Akumal, but smaller than Playa del Carmen. We'll check out the boutiques, eat lunch, sit at the beach and read our books, and consider sticking around for dinner.

Sunday evening was the Oscars. We went to the Lol Ha Beach Club for a charity dinner to raise money for the local school and they had TVs showing the ceremony. The buffet was delicious and they had a "red carpet" where the local "paparattzi" shot photos of the tourists as they entered the club. A local resident was the MC and she interviewed people as they entered. It was fun - and we actually watched the entire show.

Anyway, off to Tulum. By the way, it's warm and sunny here! We are always covered with sunscreen, and we still have managed to get a little pink. I am not complaining!

We are here!

Greetings from beautiful and warm Akumal!


We flew in yesterday and our journey was uneventful. We did watch the last episode of season one of Dexter, so I was happy to see how things wrapped up. It also made the almost four-hour flight more bearable.


Note: I am at CyberAkumal, an Internet place in town. This computer is in Spanish, so when I just did a quick spell check, pretty much everything is misspelled. Please excuse any misspellings or typos going forward!

Anyway... after getting settled in our hotel after a one-hour drive south of Cancun, we ate lunch and then explored town. Akumal is a very small town, so it did not take long to check out. We ate lunch at La Buena Vida (the good life). How true! Dinner was at La Pescadora, a fish and seafood place. The Husband had grouper (which was excellent) and I had octopus, Veracruz style. I loved it! After a few more drinks back at La Buena Vida, we crashed.

Now for the fun part -- snorkeling! After a quick breakfast in our hotel room, we headed out to Half Moon Bay (right outside our hotel room). The coral reef pretty much goes right up to the shore... all we had to do was put on our gear and walk into the sea. What a cool experience! I saw brain coral the size of those big exercise balls (about 2.5 feet in diameter). There were fish in bright colors - blue, silver, purple, yellow. I found a school of yellow fish hiding by a mound of coral. I sat in on the class for as long as the waves would allow. It was tricky swimming against the waves, but I took some comfort in seeing that even the fish sometimes were at the mercy of the ocean.

The Husband used his new underwater camera and took some neat shots (to be added to this blog when we return home). I will give underwater photography a try when we go back out later.

I will add more posts, but now it's time for lunch. Adios!

We're booked!

Yes, The Husband and I are on our way back to Mexico!

Now that I am employed again... and the dog does not appear to require surgery for anything, we are heading back to the Yucatan Peninsula. This time, we're going to stay in a town called Akumal, about one hour south of Cancún.

Our plan is to spend some quality time snorkeling and to take a day trip to Coba to see the Mayan ruins. We will probably also take a small trip to the town of Tulum (we visited the Tulum ruins at our last trip to Mexico) or back to Playa del Carmen (where we stayed at our last trip). Oh - the trip we're planning to Coba will also include visiting a cenote and lunch.

The Yucatan Peninsula is riddled with underground freshwater rivers. Cenotes are sinkholes in those rivers in which you can swim, snorkel and—if you're brave—scuba dive throughout the underground rivers (no thanks!). The Husband and I have enjoyed snorkeling in cenotes before, and we are looking forward to the experience again!

When we're not in the water or at the ruins, we'll be relaxing in the Caribbean sun (with SPF 45, of course!).

This is why I had to get a job!

Okay, it's getting old now...

When I was laid off, the first thing many people told me was "enjoy yourself!" I was told to take some "me" time and relax.

While this may come to a surprise to those who know me (and how lazy I can be), I really want to re-join the job force SOON! I am not enjoying this time off as much as I think I should... probably because I cannot relax when it's the only thing to do!

Yes, I have had interviews, sent resumes left and right, and we are surviving financially, but I am ready to go back to the office now, thank you very much. Perhaps I have been too long in Corporate Land and it has impacted my brain (is it too late for de-programming?).

It just occurred to me -- this could be all about Mexico! You see, I have not been to the warm, sandy beaches of the Yucatan Peninsula since 2005, and it does not feel right to plan on returing anytime soon when I am still unemployed. Yes, that's it! I need to feel the tropical breeze, feel the waves of the Carribean, and watch where I am going lest I step on an iguana. I want to again speak those magic words, "¡Una cervesa, por favor!"

(Sigh.)

Well, at least Mexico isn't going anywhere... and I can't stay unemployed too much longer. Maybe I should run to Target and grab some sunscreen... just to make sure I am prepared!

¡Adios!

A new post! (summer plans)

Could it be??

Am I actually posting to my glob?

It's true! I even have a topic... what I am going to do over the summer.

Our first little vacation will be to southern Minnesota, camping with some friends. We'll be at the Old Barn Resort, but we will slumber in our tent (complete with our dog, Pepper).

Our next little vacation will be up to McGregor, Minnesota -- again for some camping. This time it's at a US Forest Service campground on Big Sandy Lake (again, we will be joined by The Pep). After a few nights in the tent, we will go to lovely Proctor, MN for a family wedding reception. The good news is that my family knows how to have a good time!

I am hoping that the next little vacation will involve walls and a real bed... perhaps in Mexico!

The Bremen Town Musicians

This is a statue in Bremen, Germany of the world-famous Bremen Town Musicians. Yes, they are a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster (what did you expect?).

To learn about these incredible musicians, read their story.

Who needs Mexico?

Since my wonderful Pepper is having surgery on his right back knee (torn ACL - poor baby!), we are not going to Mexico this winter (just like last winter, when Pepper had surgery on his left back knee).

We still wanted a getaway of some sort, so we headed Up North. No, it did not compensate me for missing out on waiter service under a palapa on the beach, wearing SPF 45 while the waves of the Caribbean tickled my toes. We stayed in a cabin at a resort in Grand Rapids, MN (average temperature: 10° F). The cabin was on Lake Prairie, so Dave managed to get some ice fishing in. Pepper enjoyed romping around, only slipping on the ice a few times (if he didn't have a torn ACL already, he'd have one now!).

Some highlights:

So, since Pepper does not have any more anterior cruciate ligaments to tear, we just might make it back to Mexico in February, 2008.

They're baaaaaack!

The parental units have returned from Israel. Of course, everything went well and they were perfectly safe. They highly recommended Israel to me (it's on the list, but it's a very long list).

Upon request...

... here is the most bloody national anthem (that I know of anyway...). The French national anthem (a.k.a. La Marseillaise) was written during the French Revolution, when heads were rolling all over the place. It was a bloody mess, complete with real hatred for the royals that made the American Colonies' relationship with King George III seem downright friendly by comparison.

Here are the words en français:
Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie, l'étandard sanglant est levé, l'étandard sanglant est levé.
Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes, mugir ces farouches soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras. Egorger vos fils, vos compagnes.
Aux armes citoyens! Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons, marchons! Qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons.

Here are the word in English:
Let us go, children of the fatherland, our day of glory has arrived.
Against us stands tyranny, the bloody flag is raised, the bloody flag is raised.
Do you hear in the countryside, the roar of these savage soldiers?
They come right into our arms to cut the throats of your sons, your country.
To arms, citizens! Form up your battalions!
Let us march, let us march! That their impure blood should water our fields.

Good stuff, n'est-ce pas?

Of course, this is the same country that gave us all the guillotine... which reminds me of a small controversy I learned of when I studied in Toulouse. Did the guillotine kill in the first blow, or did it take multiple whacks? One school of thought said that the blades were too dull to completely chop off one's head with only one try... others believed either that the blades were indeed sharp enough or that the weight alone of the blade was enough to do the trick. Lovely.

Dave and I were fortunate enough to visit Paris and the very spot where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lost their heads (Place de la Révolution, or as it's known today, Place de la Concorde).

Israel

My parents are traveling throughout Israel. They left on January 14 and will return on January 28. Two weeks in the Holy Land -- I am sure they are seeing a lot of OLD ruins (as opposed to "new" ruins) and having a good time.

I would love to head somewhere truly out-of-the-ordinary someday. Here's the list of countries I have visited (so far):

• Canada
• Mexico
• France
• England
• British Virgin Islands (Tortola and the Virgin Gorda)
• The Bahamas
• Andorra

Where have you been?