Friday

We were able to book a snorkeling trip for Friday. It didn't look like we were going to get one, but after calling persistently, Bruce finally found a company with openings. We went out with Captain "Sa-So" (spelling is definitely not correct, but I have NO idea) on the Salty Dog.





It was a beautiful day and unlike other snorkeling tours, the alcohol flowed freely. We've been on boats that only offered drinks AFTER the snorkeling was over and we were on the way back. We've been on boats that sold beers, and boats with no alcohol at all. But the Salty Dog had NO rules about drinking. They offered Rum Punch and Pain Killers (my personal favorite) ALL day long, as many as you wanted and all free for the asking. A Pain Killer is a mixtur of orange juice, pineapple juice and Creme de Coco with rum. So yummy.

We went to one island about 45 minutes away and snorkeled right off of the beach. That part was cool to me, because its so much easier to adjust your equipment, and walk casually into the water. Other trips we have to jump off the side of the boat.






Afterwards we walked around for a quick tour of this little island. Our group being silly (as if we could ever be anything but). I don't know why my son insisted on rubbing his nipples, but ....maybe it was the Pain Killers???



They served a very simple lunch back on the boat of fresh bread, cold cuts and cheese, pasta salad, and a delicious fruit tray. Nothing fancy, but it was the BEST tasting food in the whole world. Probably was all of that swimming. Then we took off to another snorkeling spot where we found a lot more fish. The captain told us to take leftover bread and feed the fish. We had them eating right out of our hands. Unfortunately, this is where my camera battery died, so we don't have pictures of that, but the snorkeling was beautiful.



It was a beautiful day. After some recovery time back at the condo we went out for dinner where I had my first taste of the local dish mofongo. Its mashed, fried plantains and it tastes somewhat like hashbrowns. I enjoyed it, especially with the most delicious mojitos in the world being served for happy hour. LOL.

So, today we are headed into Old San Juan to enjoy the old city. My camera has been charged up so hopefully there will be lots of pictures to share. We are having a blast, except I find myself missing our animals quite a bit. I don't have any kitties here to curl up in bed with me, and that makes me a little sad. I hope our pet sitting service is taking good care of them.

We Are Here

We made it safely to Puerto Rico. The flights were uneventful, and everything went according to schedule. We had a long wait at the rental car place though. It took forever, because it looked like everybody got in at the same time and needed a car. The wait was exhausting, but we got the van that we reserved...a 2010 Dodge Caravan...pretty nice, with lots of luggage space and everyone has a comfortable seat. Then came a really nerve-wracking drive to Luquillo. Luquillo is only about 25 miles east of San Juan (with beautiful beaches), but that drive....OH MY GOD!!!! You pass through about 4-5 little towns with a million stoplights, but people in Puerto Rico drive like maniacs. I saw my life pass before my eyes about a dozen times in that hour long drive. It was insane.

By the time that we finally got to our condo, we were all starving and exhausted. We threw our bags in here and went out to search for food. The service here? Well, friendly but slllooooowwww! Expect to wait. And when you are ravenous that is hard to do. But when the food finally got to us: Delicious! We had some authentic Puerto Rican cuisine, and decided it was worth waiting for. I had grilled tilapia in a creole sauce. I was a little worried that it might be too hot and spicy, but actually it was a really savory salsa-like sauce with tomatoes and onions and cilantro....so yummy. We also ordered sangria by the pitcher and that was delicious as well. It took us a while to find this place to eat (apparently Puerto Ricans don't eat mid-afternoon, it was 4:30 and most local places seemed to be closed until dinner) but it was worth it.

Our condo has a wonderful view. Absolutely breathtaking. I will post some pictures later. But up here on the 21st floor its so windy. And the windows are crappy, so we are living with this howling non-stop sound of wind, like we are in the middle of a hurricane. I don't mind it. Stephen really hates it. Hopefully he will adjust, or.....maybe the wind will die down....? We don't know if its just an occasional event or if its like this all the time. But whatever....its a gorgeous day and we are still recovering from an exhausting day of traveling, so we plan to hang out here at the beach, do a little exploring of the grounds, take some pictures, and save the more strenuous stuff for later in our visit. We want to do a day long snorkeling trip to one of the islands off the coast here, and of course, we will have to spend at least a day exploring old San Juan. And eat.....we plan to do LOTS of eating. LOL.

Happy Easter Everybody!!!

I hope everyone is having a nice Easter. We aren't doing anything really special besides having a nice dinner this evening (with chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert...yum). I have to admit that I really do miss the early morning treasure hunt for the baskets, and the egg hunts, and the candy. Easter really does have the BEST candy of all the holidays. I mean, seriously! How many holidays have so many specialty candies that are ONLY available for that time of year? Cadbury Eggs, which are a favorite of mine, but those definitely take a connoisseur of sugar to stomach those. And I am....a connoisseur of sugar. My daughter is too. Nothing can be too overly sweet for us to not like it. But there are also robin's eggs, those giant homemade peanut butter eggs...just a whole bunch of stuff that only comes out during the spring. Peeps used to be an Easter exclusive, but now they make them for everything. Pumpkin peeps, Christmas tree peeps...it kind of cheapens the experience somehow.

Anyway, I hope everyone finds a treasure-laden egg, gets lots of candy, and has a blast. Its the season for awakening and rebirth, so embrace it and enjoy.

Easter....

I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter weekend. We are just hanging out, having dinner and taking it easy so we can rest up for our vacation. And in case you haven't heard, the Easter Bunny has suffered identity theft this year:



Until he can get all of that straightened out, his Easter duties will be taken over by:



The world famous Easter Gorilla, of course. If you want more candy in your basket this year, you might want to try a banana bribe. :)

File this under Delicious

This is what we made tonight! So yummy. Harris Teeter had these beautiful strawberries on sale for buy 1 get 2 free. 2! So we have been eating a lot of strawberries these past couple of days. Mostly shortcake with whipped cream, but beside the strawberries in the produce section was these containers of dipping chocolate. All you do is microwave, dip, and it sets up quickly. I didn't know if it would be a good chocolate or one of those waxy chocolates, but it was excellent. I would so buy it again. And I might......This might be our dessert for Easter dinner. LOL.

A Little Bit Trashy

I ask you....when is it ok to throw trash out of the window of a moving vehicle? I mean seriously. I know that we live on a busy road, but still. It shouldn't matter if its a city street, a suburban neighborhood road, a busy highway, or a country lane. It is NOT ok to throw garbage out of your window. EVER! It really makes me angry because we have a collection of trash show up on our road frontage all the time. I spent part of my afternoon walking the perimeter of our property with a garbage bag, picking up all the trash. Its been so windy lately that a whole lot of it had blown up against the tree line all the way in our backyard. Who does that? Somebody does, thats for sure. I have a full bag of somebody's empty bottles and cans and fastfood bags, and grocery bags....etc.

One afternoon this past week one of the ECU buses passed me going in the opposite direction while I was sitting at a stop light. Some moron threw a drink cup full of ice out of the bus window and it hit my windshield. It scared the daylights out of me. I looked up just in time to see some object hurling through the air right at my face. The fact that I had a thick piece of safety glass between me and said object didn't register. I ducked anyway, and then the cup splattered all over my car. Great job, anonymous idiot. Why do people do that? Was if too much of a hassle to just hold on to the empty cup until the bus stopped and a proper receptacle could be located? Was the cup too heavy and cumbersome?

But anyway, if I ruled the world I would spend less time arresting folks for smoking a little bit of pot now and again and concentrate my efforts on punishing the litterbugs. Get caught throwing trash on the ground and there would not only be a hefty fine, but also time spent on trash picking up duty. A LOT of time. And that is for the first offense. The second violation would involve jail time and daily picking up of the trash wearing prison garb. Maybe that would stop the trashiness.
Its inexcusable that anybody would just toss their litter out of the window, or on the ground or whatever. It doesn't just disappear into thin air when it leaves your hand.

Allergies?

What in the world is going on with me? Is it allergies or a cold? All I know is that it is making me miserable and has been getting progressively worse as the day wears on. Hopefully its just allergies. ??? I do not want to be sick right now.

But besides the fact that I can't breathe and my nose and eyes are leaking like crazy, I am still a happy camper. Its spring. I am still indescribably happy that my husband and sister are on speaking terms again. And I am heading to sunny Puerto Rico in 2 weeks. Yay! Life is definitely good.

Also, we spent several hours last night with a man who specializes in Federal employee benefits. And yes, he does want to sell us more insurance. But he gave us a plethora of useful information, lots of it were things that we were NOT aware of, too, so it was a real learning experience. He helps people get their ducks in a row for retirement, and had amassed whole folders of info and figures that were exclusive to us. What an eye opener. For starters, we had planned (hoped) to retire at 56. And while that sounds like a really long time away, its really only 8 and a half years. Less than a decade. But according to these figures, seeing it all in cold hard facts printed in black and white? Well....we could retire then. But if we could manage to stick it out for 4 more years, and retire at 60, we would have quite a bit more security for the long haul. I never knew that those few years could make such a HUGE difference in the income for the rest of your life.

Anyway, while hearing that information was a little bit sad, I also believe that knowledge is power. At least we now know exactly where we stand, and where we need to be and how to get there. He was impressed with our progress so far, and felt like we were really on the right track so...? Overall, I guess its good news.