Day 546 - Good Friday

Jaco & I went for a walk today! We strolled downtown & then walked along one of the sea cliff paths admiring the views, beautiful homes, rock dassies & the fresh air. After our walk, we headed over to his primary school. We walked the grounds & he pointed out where he used to play games, hoist the flag when he was Headmaster, play tennis, his first classroom, where he used to park his bike, where he got into mischief and what buildings were new from the time he went to school there.


We also booked my flight to Rome today. At $760, I think that's a screamin' good deal! The next cheapest flight is $1300.


In other news, I shaved my head for the last time today. I'm planning on a photo every day until I have somewhat of a hairstyle. Wish me luck on both ideas. 


We returned to the house & Petro found us with some prickly pear. I am not sure I've ever had it before. It tasted a little like watermelon & a little like cucumber. With plenty of 'pips' or seeds in it. It was interesting!


We spent the night watching a bio on Christina Aguilera & then plenty of sports. Oh! And we saw a wiener dog tonight! We were walking down a street close to the house when this little red wiener with a white chest came roaring down the street - ears flopping & little legs justa hoofin' her! He turned off the street & disappeared into his house just before he reached us. I was all set for a little snuggle. Boo.


And the balance of the evening was spent trying to catch up on the blog. Phew. It's a big job!


Hopefully more excitement tomorrow! Lekker slaap!


xxxxMaria

 Rock Dassie

 Pretty flower

 GROSS Spider

 Tuscan style home

 Jaco's first school!

 On the grass

 At the school

They used to pull this to level the Cricket pitch

Day 202 - Doin' The Shuffle

Phew. What a day. I’m wiped! I’m not sure what exactly is causing this lack of energy, but boy, am I tired by the end of the day! Come 2100, I am ready for bed! I generally don’t find it until 2300, but not for lack of trying!

Today was a day of shuffling. As Mom has arranged her room into my room while I tackle this chemo thing, there was still a little rearranging to do. (& still is!)

I decided to put the desk in my room & give Mom more room in the living room. This meant moving the large clothes cupboard. And it meant moving the bead trolley twice. It also included taking apart the desk. It’s an antique & was no small task! Luckily Mom’s friend, Mitch stopped by & was able to give us a hand! I tried to put the TV on top of the desk, but it’s too large. I’ll be on the lookout for a nice flat screen TV… If you know of anyone, send ‘em my way! I’ll even rent it for 6 months! (I have plans to watch a lot of CSI & House this summer!)

Anyhow, we moved the mirror, sorted out closets, shuffled washstands & cupboards, threw out this & that, put this away for goodwill, that for recycling…

We also attempted to change the battery in Contemplate, but I think the Dude at Canadian Tire sold us the wrong one. The amperage & so forth is the same, but the part number is different & the posts are too far in the centre of the battery for the cables to reach. Looks like we’ll be driving NeverLate for another day!

The new girl & Valentina are getting along famously. Oceana is really coming out of her shell! It’s great to see! Valentina is still quite vocal & very possessive of her toys, but we’ll get there! Oceana will now go up & down the stairs on her own, fetches the ball & didn’t even mess in the house today!

Mom made a wonderful dinner – shrimp, red peppers, pineapple, garlic, ginger, coconut milk & quinoa and a couple of corn on the cobs. Yum! I’m so grateful she cooks, as I would be a waif otherwise!

I rearranged my jewelry drawer & polished my silver jewelry. I am very excited to wear my necklaces again & have them sit properly on my neck! Bring it on!

It was absolutely stunning outside, so I ventured out for a little reading in the sunshine. Valentina laid with me while I learned a little more of Cesar’s methods. I’ve got 10 pages left in the book! Yay!

I also spent some time last night & this morning looking for wigs online. It appears they are quite expensive! I’m very frustrated I missed the shop in Barbados, so I tracked them down online & called their head office. They are going to email me some photos & I will place an order & have it shipped to me. Just to give you an idea, the human hair wig I bought in Antigua was $30. Online the cheapest I could find was $70. Most of them are $200-1700!!! Crazy!!!

Anyhow, not too exciting of a day. Tomorrow will be a long one… Wish me luck & here’s hoping I have some good news to report! Love & hugs,

Maria & Valentina

xoxoxoxoxoxo

2 weiners on a treadmill

That's the long & the short of it, Folks.

Me & my wieners

Valentina

She forgot her dentures

Oceana

Dreaming of squeaky toys & treats

Oceana May

Day 164 - Holy S**t!!!! It's An Earthquake!

Today was a wonderful day. I slept in! I thought I might go out for a bit, but in the end, I stayed put. I slept until 1100 & took my time getting rolling. I cleaned the new blender & made a yummy green smoothie - spinach, mint, mango, banana & pineapple. 


I rolled out my yoga mat with good intentions. I lasted 8 minutes in a 43 minute routine. Pooh. Well, here's to 10 minutes next time! I then decided to wash a few things by hand. 


Valentina had wee'd on the new pillow cover I put in her kennel. Argh. I put her on her pad every 15-20 minutes & then she goes in her kennel! So, I decided to wash the cover, along with my clothes, along with Valentina & then me! 


I had washed the dark clothes & was in the middle of washing the lights, squatting in the tub, naked as a jaybird, ready for my shower, scrubbing a shirt, when I felt like I was rocking back & forth. I steadied myself in the tub, but then I realized the tub was rocking! OH MY GOSH! IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE! CRAP! WHAT DO I DO?


I've never been in an earthquake! I ran out into the passage way & just stood there, feeling the entire hotel room rock back & forth. What do I do? Where do I go? I shouldn't stand here - what if the roof falls on me? Maybe I should hide under something - but what if it collapses? Maybe I should go outside - clothes! Clothes would be good! I could see the curtains swaying back & forth in the room - I went to the curtains & peeked out the window. People were standing by the fence next to the pool. The waves in the pool were splashing over the edges. Sheesh! This is crazy! When I didn't see the people by the pool panicking, I thought I didn't need to either! I'm guessing it lasted about a minute or so before I couldn't notice it anymore. I shakily entered a Facebook status about the quake. I certainly didn't think today would be the day I would experience an earthquake. I guess I never thought I would experience one! The epicentre was 108 miles away from San Diego near Mexicali, Mexico. It registered 7.2 on the Richter scale. 


I went back to washing & I had no sooner bathed Valentina, cleaned her ears & teeth, when I left the bathroom to get something. I returned to the bathroom to find her having pee'd all over the bath mat. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? ARGH! Well, now I was going to have to go out. I needed stain remover or bleach! Or both!


I took Valentina outside with her pad with the hopes that she would do #2 on the pad. After a failed first attempt, I managed to catch her half way through the act & picked her up & put her on the pad. I look over & there were two ladies from the clinic in their car, watching me praise my dog as she pooped on a piece of astro-turf. 


Okay, so the earthquake was strange for this foreigner, but I'm sure what they just saw, was just as strange for them! They offered to take me to the grocery store, so I jumped at the chance to get my stain remover! 


I've never used bleach before, so I was very happy when the towels looked 'white' again! 


I managed to catch up on the blog, while I watched some crazy American TV. Have you ever seen America's Worst Drivers? I was literally choking I was laughing so hard! They were terrible! How did they even get their license? Too funny! Then I saw a bit of a show called something like 'Rehab Room' or something like that. A bunch of crazy addicts just out of rehab - including Dennis Rodman. It was pretty pathetic. Then I managed to see Jessica Simpson in India doing some Aruvedic spa treatments. She & her friends did a neti pot, hot oil treatments & then drank a herbal tea to get rid of excess gases in the body. Needless to say, I've never heard belching like that before! It was pretty funny too! Maybe I'll ask around for some! :o) Then they helped a girl get a cleft pallet operation. In India 1 in 5 children are born with a cleft pallet! If you go to Smiles for Smiles, they will donate $1 for every smile photo received towards the surgeries! I did it & it only takes 30 seconds!


Anyhow, I'm off to bed... It's been a big day! Shake, rattle & roll... Shaken, not stirred... Just roll with it... :o)


Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Tweet Pea naps.

The drying rack!