Frito Bean and the 7 dwarfs

04/15/2015 It’s been HOT HOT HOT in the tropics. Boob melting sweatiness. I mean, mine feel like they’re melting off but every time I look, they’re still there. Sunday morning I baked  for several hours, making coconut macaroons for a dinner party on Sunday at Chuck and Nancy’s. I think I even sat in the sun for awhile that afternoon. I know I was being ultra lazy because when Bill told me it was 3:30 I freaked. I still hadn’t showered or anything. and we had to be there by 4. It was a fabulous evening, getting to meet Lynda and Dave and spend time with Chuck and Nancy and Annie and Charlie. Nancy made a wonderful meal for all of us, as usual. We didn’t stay very late, we had 4 hungry dogs at home.

I absolutely did nothing except some sweeping and cleaned up the kitchen on Monday. It was nice to not leave the house, makes up for all the days that I run all day long.  On Tuesday morning Marilyn came to my house @ 8 Am and we were off to Sandy Bay to pick up more shoes. Sarah, who also lives here, Addy and Brian and Charlene and Nancy (all from Canada) were helping for the day too. We loaded up a truck and my car and went to a big school in downtown Coxen Hole called Juan Brooks. There were over 1000 kids there to be fitted. Then Natalie, a director, Marilyn, Sarah and I went to a kinder in Spanish Town to fit the kids. I was fitting that morning so I didn’t have time to take many photos but I did manage to snag a few hugs!

Sarah lives here on Roatan and is from the Pacific Northwest, Oregon to be exact. She too writes for Women Who Live on Rocks and has her own blog at BellaGypsySol. Check out Sarah’s blog while you’re at it. Sarah is a diver and she recently posted a photo of her wearing a BangWrangler and I had to have one. It’s a wide elastic band that doesn’t slip and holds your hair back out of your face.

Sarah brought one for me on Tuesday and she happened to have an extra, which Marilyn snagged. I love my BangWrangler. I just want to keep saying Bang Wrangler over and over again. Thanks Sarah, you and my new Bang Wrangler rock!!

When we were done there we headed back to Coxen Hole and Juan Brooks school to help the other volunteers fit the 1000 kids who go there. It was a steaming HOT day, we were on the open stage, no air moving at all. At one point Addy had her cold bottle of water stuffed in the front of her shirt.

It was a long hard day but over 1000 children got new shoes. I got home around 4 PM and was ready to crash right then and there. Thankfully I thought ahead ( a very rare occurrence when it comes to meals)  and dinner was a no-brainer.

Shortly after we got Frito home from her amputation we were feeding her several meals a day because she had been so malnourished. You all know our dogs eat like royalty, minus the 11 piece place settings, real china, crystal and fine linen napkins. Frito started gaining weight F A S T. We assumed it was because she was finally eating regular meals. When we took her to the vet to get her stitches out we said, she’s preggo. He said, no, she’s “gordo.” FAT. So we cut back a little on her food but she still continued to expand. We had Weight Watchers on speed dial. HMMM. Now, I have had dogs all of my life, always. I’ve never had a pregnant one though, mine were always spayed. This was uncharted territory for us. AND, the vet said, No preggo, GORDO. So we continued to feed her 1 small and 1 large nutritious meal a day. Soon it looked like she swallowed an eggplant WHOLE.

About a week ago we determined she was pregnant, not fat. We could feel and SEE the puppies moving around in her belly. I was convinced there were only 2.

On Wednesday morning (the only day we have a vet on the island) I was taking Frito to find out about her impending delivery and when it would be. While there, she had 2 puppies so I brought her home and away from the craziness that is the vet office. She had one more puppy in the car and then 3 more after that.

And we have 7!!

Just when I thought she was done she popped out another one. All soft and shiny, fat and squeaky. Frito is a good 3 legged momma. She hadn’t eaten much in the morning so after fritito # 6, I fed her some yogurt, then she ate some dog food, then she had another pup. Just like it was a walk in the park, no biggie, I just had 7 puppies. We think her timeline went something like this:

B. C. W. (Before Crazed Woman) A night of unbridled passion with a handsome neighborhood lothario

B. C. W. May be still in a stupor from the passion, passed out in the aftermath, paw gets run over

3/10/2015 Scavenging for a morsel in the schoolyard of Barrio Los Fuertes school when a Crazed Woman offers me cheese and apples. Next food offered was Fritos to lure me to the car for the snatch and grab. Crazed Woman names me Frito.

3/11/2015 Go to the vet to see if he can save my paw (bone was sticking out of the foot) He could not and said I had to go to the mainland for amputation. WTH is that?

3/11/2015 I get stuffed in a dog crate with a bleeding paw and put on a ferry for a long ride to La Ceiba.

3/11/2015 I’m met by a vet employee and taken to the clinic.

3/12/2015 The day begins by being bathed 4 times to get rid of the fleas and ticks. Doc prepares the room to be sterile for me.

3/13/2015 Off with the leg. Crazed Woman drives vet assistant friend Bethany bonkers with repeated questions about me ALL DAY LONG. Crazed Woman is told I am fine and awake and maybe Bethany just told her that to shut her up. She is persistent.

3/14 & 3/15/2015  I spent the weekend recuperating in the vet clinic.

3/16/2015 I’m back on the damn boat for the trip home. Wondering if when I get to the other place they’ll chop off the other leg.

3/16/2015 Extremely excited to see Crazed Woman @ the ferry terminal. I cried, she did too.

3/25/2015 Back to vet to get stitches taken out. Ask vet if I am preggo, he smiles and says “No, just GORDO.”

04/15/2015 I give birth to 7 gorgeous little puppies, 2 girls, 5 boys. I am no longer “GORDO.”

So there you have it. A month plus in the life of Frito Bean.

I sensed Frito was upstairs at 4:45 this morning. I got up and she was at the top of the steps. I asked if she wanted to go potty and she ran down the steps. I let her out and she took off running to the grass for her morning potty. As soon as she was done she tore back in to those puppies. She is never away from them. She has certainly proven to me what a miraculously strong dog she is. To go through all that she did and then give birth and be totally chill, I am in awe of her. She is one special dog and we are pretty blessed she is ours.

This morning I was to meet Nidia at the bodega in Sandy Bay at 7:30. I don’t think I went back to sleep between Frito’s potty break and 6 AM. I left home at 6:45AM. We lugged 12 boxes down the steps and into my car and set off for the Kinder Nicolas Villeda in Coxen Hole. We had 4 mothers to fit the shoes this morning. The kids were adorable and totally fascinated with me taking pictures.

After that we went looking for a kinder teacher in Las Brisas. It is down the road to Steel Pan Alley, near the cruise ship terminal.

I was home by 10 and still had dishes to do from last evening when Sam and Chelsie came for dinner. I really love those two, such a sweet couple.

I was so exhausted after giving birth with Frito yesterday there was no way I could have washed the dishes last night. In fact, I only washed part of them today, Bill just now finished washing them, I took a 3 hour nap with Emmy cat. I’m pooped, birth is a bitch!

I’m off to check on Frito Bean and the 7 dwarfs again and then settling in with a glass of wine and catching up on The Voice.

Anyone want a puppy???