08/10/2014 Happy Birthday Sharon Prouty-Hall, we’ll see you soon, I can’t wait!!
Not a lot happening this past week. It’s been scorchingly hot, holy hell. I had a headache for two days, one day I laid in bed all day with the fan on, didn’t feel like doing much else. Bill has been working non stop on finishing stuff around here. Only 3 more drawer fronts to put on and then we’ll seal the wood. He has more to do on the island also, but not much. I still have not thought about tile for the back of the counters, I’m in no hurry, when I see something I like, I’ll buy it.
Famous last words. IT’S GETTING THERE.
On Monday I was meeting Janice at the Police station in Oak Ridge to get the beds made and the kitchen set up. It was a scorcher of a day, OMG! On top of the heat the power was out and the fans hadn’t even been installed. I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much.
We worked for a few hours on Monday, sweat was pouring off of me and dripping on the floor, so gross. Around 2 we were done, well, as done as we could be with what was there. Junior was putting up the fans, the one guy was doing the emblems on either side of the door, others were trying to figure out what to do since the shower opening was much bigger than any shower curtain rods. Lots of little things yet to do for the dedication ceremony on Wednesday at 10. The crews had worked through the night putting down many yards of gravel, unloading chairs, cleaning up the garbage from left over boxes, putting away tools, it was a community effort for sure. Bill and I got there a little before 10 on Wed., it was another scorcher of a day. A definite sweat producer. They were just starting to set up the big tent.
We were introduced to the man who has the infamous honor of being the head of all of the police in Honduras. My thoughts were, he seemed like such a nice man, I expected him to be a bad ass. He must be in some respect to get to where he is. There was a panel of important people and they each spoke, some in Spanish so we only got bits and pieces of that conversation. Then Mayor Dilbert got up to speak. He started talking about the people who had made this possible, like Janice and Don. He called them both up front along with a guy from Rotary. Janice gets things done, she knows who to turn to, where to go, she and Don are fantastic advocates for the community. I feel grateful I was asked to help. Well, didn’t the Mayor call me up to the front, Bill too. He really shouldn’t have because I did so little compared to the others. I felt we were up there under false pretenses but, what do you say? “NO, that’s OK, I didn’t do that much!” Bill offered to make clothes pegs for the bathroom so they had somewhere to hang their clothes and towels. He has some of them done, needs to make a few more.
I have been passively looking for bar stools. I bought 2 that I love from John and Lin when they left the island. I need 6 total, 4 up, 2 down. Since we aren’t using the downstairs we brought the 2 stools up. THEN, the other day I was at Umbul Umbul and realized they had stools to match, but they were very expensive despite the fact they had been there a long time. I thought and thought about these stools, the $$ for 2 of them was enough money to buy 2 stools and 2 end tables with money to spare. Decisions. I called the store and found out they were 20% off, that was all the news I needed. I drove down there the other day all set to buy them, but when I got there, ONLY ONE MATCHED, the other had a solid back instead of the woven. Now some people could stand that, 3 with a woven, one solid but I couldn’t. 3/1 with something like that is not a good thing for my OCD brain. I was bummed but thought, I’m buying two stools today and being done with it. They had only 2 others stools that had 2 available. I chose fold up stools and got some cushions that are a woven rattan color, they look fine. I now have 2 woven and 2 with cushions and you know what? I’m fine with it. Which is not normal for me. In my other life I would have put the 2 super nice stools downstairs and bought 4 of the same for upstairs. This is the new me..able to live on the edge.
I stopped at a wood shop on my way home and talked to Antonio. Bill and I had stopped there last week and Bill noticed they had 2 Shop Fox machines and I noticed a Grizzly tool in the back. Bill told Antonio about his previous life as a Grizzly drone and then he noticed another really old Grizzly tool. Small world, so naturally we have to deal with Antonio. He was supposed to call me with prices for 2 night stands and 2 stools. Of course, he never called so we’ll go there again on Monday.
While sitting on the porch yesterday I saw big areas of Sargassum weed floating by. They are having a problem with it in Flowers Bay, in fact the Muni is cleaning it out and hauling it away. I have read different articles, some say it should be left alone and in the water, other stories say to take it out. Whatever they do I’m sure I won’t be swimming in it. Luckily it is mainly on the south shores so it’s not circling the whole island. It is a vital habitat for sea life though, mixed emotions on this one.
Have I mentioned how much I love having my washer and dryer in the closet? I LOVE IT! Sure, it makes the closet smaller but it’s so easy. I take the clothes out of the dryer, throw them on the bed, fold them and turn around back into the closet and put them away. So stinking convenient! I remember when we lived in Cogan Station in a 3 story house and I had 2 dirty boys. I had to carry the laundry up and down those stairs, that was hateful!! It just makes so much sense! Little things.
After stopping at Antonio’s wood shop I headed to Eldon’s to get some lettuce. Walking across the parking lot I saw a truck with several cops in the back. The cop driving recognized me and motioned me over. I see him all the time on the road at road blocks, he kissed my hand once. I’m super nice to them and they are nice to me. I chatted with him for a minute and then did my shopping. On the way out of the store I heard someone call my name. It was our friend Liz. She dropped a vehicle belonging to one of the rentals she manages off for repair and needed a ride back down island to get her Jeep. I brought her to our house and then Bill took her home because my car won’t go down the Milton Bight road very easily, sits too low. Just as Bill was leaving to take Liz home Cleo and Craig came to drop some stuff off at John’s. They left yesterday to go back to the states for FIVE WEEKS. I’m jonesing already, we will miss them being on island, they are super fun to hang out with, always ready for an adventure. At least when they return they will be living next door to us which will be great! They were going to Cal’s for dinner and since we haven’t been out to dinner for a few months we said we would join them. We took our neighbor John with us. I hadn’t had anything to drink all week because I was headachey so I grabbed a glass of wine to go for the minute ride to Cal’s. We had a fantastic dinner as always but the place was dead. Not normal for a Friday night at all. We had two bottles of wine between 3, maybe 4 of us and by the time the meal was over, we were dancing! Yes, Cleo, myself, Tami and Marian all danced. Carl was all smiles and didn’t seem to care one way or the other. It was a great evening!! We miss you already Cleo and Craig!
It’s 1 PM and we haven’t done squat today, we need to get moving. I’ll leave you with this photo of the airport on Roatan. If you are lucky enough to have a window seat, you’ll get a great view!!
And while you’re at it, Just dance.
Mermaid on a Raft 