Long, overdue update!

So much to update, as it has been far too long since I even visited. I encouraged a friend to blog, and thought it best for me to do the same.

So this will be one of a few updates....

Summer 2009 travels -
J and I packed our backpacks and hopped on a plane to Cancun. This part of the journey is becoming quite familiar. Land in Cancun, bus to Playa del Carmen, ferry to Cozumel and walk to Eliane's. A couple of days in Coz, enjoying our favorite places and then ferry back to Playa del Carmen to board a bus that will take us to Belize. 4.5 hour bus ride, interesting border crossing and we arrive in Corozal! This begins our Belizean adventure!

This is in Corozal, one of our first sights in Belize. Beautiful calm water. Men fishing on the docks, with nets and poles, very early in the morning. From here, we caught a water taxi to Ambergris Caye.

Ambergris Caye is so beautiful and relaxing!

Now, we get to Caye Caulker and it stole my heart! The island has a motto, Go Slow, and people do! This is the life! So friendly and just amazing views. We did a sail trip and swam with rays and nurse sharks...saw a sea turtle diving for sea grass, a giant grouper, ate ceviche that was freshly made for us, and enjoyed a day of snorkeling and swimming. We found a great sports pub on the island, owned by a Canadian expat, and ended up there most evenings, playing trivia and drinking tropical drinks with funny names - Panty Removers! We also donated some money ("Buy a Piece of the Pub") to the local school, to provide sports equipment to the kids. In turn, the pub paints your name on whatever item you "purchased" and you get a certificate of ownership...stating you own property in Belize! Haha..... J and I have our names painted on the table we sat at each time. We spent 8 days here, eventually sailing a 3 day sail trip south, to Placencia.

Our hotel - Rainbow Hotel

Great lobster - this meal cost about $6!

Typical view as we walked along the street - no cars on island, just golf carts and bikes.

Snorkeling!

One of the many rays we swam with!

Beautiful and gentle sea turtle!

I caught dinner for the travelers that night - barracuda! Took about 15 minutes to reel the guy in! The crew of the Ragga Queen were quite impressed!

The island where we camped the first night. Yes, that is the entire island!

We flew from Placencia back to Cancun, as there were reports of trouble crossing the border due to H1N1 flu.

One of the best experiences I have ever had - swimming with Whale Sharks! There were reportedly about 200 in the area, and they are huge! That mouth is about a metre across and they can be 35 ft. long!

The prettiest beaches I have ever been to. Isla Mujeres - sand soft like flour and white as snow. Water as warm as a tub and you can walk out waist deep forever.

More to be updated!

Long time, many changes!

How exciting! So many things have changed and I have so much to update on....anyone still out there?

I have traveled all summer, finished a travel practicum, still working on school and now working in a hotel as a Front Office Supervisor!

Getting my name out there and getting my feet wet in the travel industry.

I will post more later on my summer travels, but for now I will just say that I got to Amsterdam, Egypt, Greece and Italy! 49 days away and tons of memories. I will walk down that lane shortly!

Ta ta!

OMG! Has it really been that long?

I am shocked! I have had no sense of time of late and have let things slide. I have had so much happen in the many months since I have visited and have simply forgotten about this blog. Wow! So, "HELLO" to anyone who drops by and who I have not visited with (virtually) in a long, long time.

So, to catch up with things....

~ I left my job at the school! I was tired. I had been there for 13 years and felt it was time to move on before I let things slide too much and resented any aspect of my job. I left on good terms and have not looked back!

~ I opened and operate a small dayhome. It was an idea in place as I left my prior job. I now am a proud childcare provider to 5 lovely toddlers, all of whom have parents who I used to work with. It is unique in some ways...I do not operate out of my own home (I will come back to that), as the dayhome is out of the home of one of the children. His parents live right close to the school and the children all get dropped off there. I work only days that the school is in operation, leaving me plenty of days off and summers to enjoy with my husband!

~ My husband quit his job as well and is now a full-time university student, studying engineering. We talked long and hard about this, but I want him to do it now and have no regrets when he is 50 or 60....shoulda, coulda, woulda.

~ My house....sold! We listed the house last July and it sold in a day! The sign was not even in the lawn and we showed the house at 2pm and had a offer by 8pm. We took it and gave up possession on Aug. 22. This is where it gets complicated:
- because the house sold so quickly, we had no plan of where to go. Our 'longer-term' plan was to eventually move into my husband's parents home, renovating a suite in their empty basement. Until that was finished (it had not yet begun), we needed a place. I immediately began looking at rentals. Many of our rentals in the city were super inflated but I did find one - a small basement suite for $1100.00/month. When this was mentioned to a friend of mine (a woman for whom I was a nanny to her two young boys, many years ago) she mentioned that she had room for us. Her boys were out of the house and they had a developed basement that we could use. We saved so much money by staying with them.
- we are now living with my in-laws! Our suite only needs a few more things done until it is completely finished!

Phew!
There is so much more, but I will share later! Ta ta!

An adventure...

I don't know if anyone here has visited Canada before, or more specific Banff in the Western Canadian province of Alberta. I live near there and it never ceases to amaze me when I take day trips around the area and see what a beautiful space I live in. I love the mountains and the nature that exists there.

Yesterday, I ventured out early with my dear friend and her visiting family. I told the young passengers that there is never a guarantee that we will see any wildlife, as times have changed from when I was a child and we would most certainly see something.

Yesterday was amazing! It started with deer....


And, then the Big Horn Sheep and Elk....

And then......


BEARS!!! A momma and her two cubs (yearlings and very large!)!

A very exciting day, indeed!

Projects of late...

Thanks all for the well wishes. It has been a long month, with school ending and family issues. All is on the mend.

I have also been busy with paper crafts. I made 63 graduation cards for the '08 class, as I have worked with the majority of them for all 12 years. I made the cards, put a variety of quotes inside and then a personal message for each grad. It was hard work but worth it.

I also made these altered notebooks. Both to give to friends and they turned out great!

And then....I used acrylic sheet and some beautiful paper to make my MIL a clock for her office. It is hard to tell, but there is a lot of void, clear space on here. I love it and will be making more!

So, for now I am off....12 more school days left!!!!

Cheers!

.

4-day Weekend!

So exciting...no work until Tuesday! I am so glad. I have had a rough week, along with my family. Grandpa was buried on Tuesday, after a semi-quick bout with cancer. He felt that he had had it for some time, but didn't act on it.

I have always said it is such a shame that you learn so much at funerals. The stories that come from these gatherings should really be shared and laughed at prior to when your loved one is gone. I wish, wish, wish I had of known that grandpa liked playing Canasta. Canasta!? Something so simple and I would have loved to have played with and learned from him.

I am going to open all of my windows today and clean my house! I am actually quite excited by that thought. I want to have my house listed and on the market within two weeks. Can it be done?

I will check in later....

I am pooped!

I am tired. Tired in general; Tired of work; Tired of being tired.

I feel like complaining and it is only Monday....boy, it's going be a long week! LOL

Working with kids is usually so great. Today is just work. I think many of them are feeling overwhelmed with workload and other expectations. The ones I work with are just 'off'. That makes for a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day!

I wish I could just be at home...purging my belongings. I am in the mood to unload! My SIL is having a garage sale this weekend, so I will be carting stuff to her. I don't even care if I make any money, it is just an excuse to get stuff out of my house.

I also want to scrap and make cards. I was not feeling inspired this weekend, but I am now! I want to just sit in my room, with the windows open and music on, crafting away!

41 more school days (with kids) left until summer break....did anyone else just here Alice Cooper's song in their head????