In memory of Laura

12/03/2015 The crud is gone, we are both still coughing and Bill still overheats anytime he does anything but we are better.

Last Sunday I met a new friend who found me through my blog. She was on the island looking at land because she and her husband have decided to retire from Canada to Roatan. She invited me over to Media Luna where she was staying so we could talk. I couldn’t stay very long because we were taking the cupboard doors to Jeanie so I invited Diane to ride along to Camp Bay. We drove over here, loaded the doors in my car and headed out to Jeanies. It didn’t take Bill as long as he thought it would to hang the doors, once hung, we headed back home.

On Wednesday my friends Mike and Liza came for 11 days. They flew in on Avianca from the mainland. We met Mike and Liza when KP was here and we were visiting La Sirena in Camp Bay. Then Mike found my blog via my friend Amanda Walkins blog, his wife emailed me and the rest is history. After being in contact for months via FB and email, it’s like we were best friends already. I offered to pick them up at the airport at 10 on Wed. morning. Once we got the car loaded with their stuff (Orlando was sweet and went and got their bags for them and took them out to the car) we went to the Re-Max office so they could get their property deed. Yes, they are land owners on Roatan!! After that we went to Eldon’s and got some food and drink stuff, then I took them to Cabana Lana, the place they are staying in West Bay for 4 days, then they moved down to a place by Infinity Bay. A little variety this trip.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we were meeting Mike and Liza at the Beach Grill at 3:30. I had to meet Cristiana (our lawyer) in French Harbor to pay her for our residency papers, then I met Sam to pay the balance on the roof job. When I was done with that I ran into Lady Lee for the big Black Friday sale that started on a Wednesday. I spent $180.00 and got over $350.00 worth of toys. Thank you Beth and Aaron and Walt and Judy, Ginny, Cathilee and Ralphie! Another friend of mine from Williamsport sent me money for the kids, thank you Rick, I donated all of your $$ to Because We Care and Nidia is buying toys for over 1000 kids with the money we are able to raise. When my errands were completed, I hustled back home and got ready for turkey dinner.

On Thanksgiving @ the Beach Grill, I introduced myself to Madison Keith, the owner of Roatan’s radio station, Blue Wave Radio, 101.1 FM. We have been friends on FB and comment back and forth. I had tuned in earlier in the day while running errands and he was playing Alice’s Restaurant. IT MADE MY DAY. Today after we chatted and I met his lady Greta,  he had me say on air, “Hi this is Deb, broadcasting on 101.1 FM, Blue Wave Radio, Roatan”. It’s a fab station, he plays music that makes me go, “wow, it’s been years since I have heard that song”. That’s what good radio stations do.

Friday and yay!! BJ’s. Mike and Liza came over around 11 and we headed to Oak Ridge for our Spanish lessons at noon. They wandered around Oak Ridge while we learned about conjugating verbs. When class was over we all (as in the whole class) went to BJ’s and hung out for a few hours. After we left there, we came back here for toilet break and then went to Cal’s for dinner. Yummy as usual! Mike and Liza headed back to the other end of the island after dinner. Mike said the headlights of their rental were both pointed in the ditch along the side of the road, makes for a challenging drive because the roads here are pitch black.

Saturday we cleaned around la casa. (I had Melissa over on Tuesday and she did all the windows and the tracks, it took her 5 hours to do the windows. And guess what?? They’re dirty already. It freaking rains dirt here.) Alexi came over and helped Bill clean up outside and I swept and dusted inside because friends were coming for pizza and they were bringing another one of our puppies, Tank, the big handsome brute that I had a terrible time parting with. Kevin and Claire own Blue Reef Properties . We had a fabulous evening with them, and the boys and Lola got along quite well by the end of the evening. Except Highway, who was a total freak and was banished to the bedroom with the cat.

I met another guy on FB via my blog, via Amanda’s blog. He contacted me on FB also. Sean and I have been emailing and FB’ing for a few months. He and his wife decided to come down again this Dec. from Canada and he asked me for info on where to stay; I hooked him up with Kevin and Claire and he is thrilled to be renting from them and will be here the 7th. I’m looking forward to meeting him and his wife and friends. Sounds like Sean travels like Bill used to, with my 2 girlfriends..his wife is also bringing 2 friends. My friends Mike and Liza travel with 2 other ladies, they call them the sister wives, what do you think Teri B and Olivia?? You 2 into being called sister wives??

Sunday morning we went down to Oceano to get my new couch and then made another trip to pick up one I got for my friend.  We had to get Alexi to help us because they are too heavy for me to even begin to help, they are sleeper sofas and obviously well made. We also brought home the new dog bed. Well, it’s not really a dog bed but a floor pillow, however, the dogs love it and we bought it for them.

I had a fretful Sunday afternoon. I was really nervous because we were both flying to the mainland the next day and what if something happened, who would take care of the dogs, what would happen to them? would they be fed and spoiled and loved. And the boys, who would contact them? I frantically was making arrangements the night before thinking to myself how damn unprepared I really am. The Queen of Preparedness, the ex Girl Scout, the person who separated their rubber bands by size AND thickness. SO unprepared. I have made it a priority to do this by the end of the month. There, I’ve said it..out loud to the world, I have to do it. And girlfriend, you know who you are, let’s get on this..

Monday morning we arose at some flipping ungodly hour to ALARM CLOCKS. I hate alarm clocks. We had to get to the Roatan airport by 6. Bill sucks with airport arrival times, we were there before THEY OPENED THE DAMN PARKING LOT. And I forgot my book. Boohoo. (reading the Glass Castle) We were bound for the mainland, La Ceiba and it was currently (almost) cheaper to fly than to take the 1 hour plus Ferry. Bill is not a boat fan to begin with. We flew. I fell asleep probably before take off and I woke when the gear went down to land in Ceiba. We had 3 empty suitcases for shopping after we did our residency. Our lawyer had gotten all the papers for us and a letter from the Chamber of Commerce and we had a cabbie who spoke English (and was referred by many friends) pick us up right on time and whisked us off to the residency office. He took us in, told us what line to go to, talked to the ladies there, he had it down. I had the temporary residency papers for 4 of our friends also so Pablo took them and got their cards for me! We got our card stuff done and then we hit WALMART. Yes, a brand spanking new store too. However, it was a huge let down for me. Let me say right off the bat, I am not a Walmart woman, B U T, they do have good prices on so many things like shampoo and paper towels and soap, necessities that are so expensive here I thought I could stock up. I got a few things, like new heavy rubber floor mats for my car. Bill said they are so heavy they will decrease my mileage. hah. We left there and went to DIUNSA. They were having a big sale and we ended up buying a mattress and box springs for the guest room downstairs (Robby and Julie, Merry Christmas) and Bill got his outdoor cooktop.

It’s easy to get stuff shipped over, our stuff came the next day. Our driver in La Ceiba could not have been any nicer and should the need arise to go to the mainland again, we’ll be hanging with Pablo. Thanks Joe and Betty, Cindy and John and Heather and Ron.

When we were coming in to Roa, I could see the runway and thought there is no way in hell he’s going to land, he’ll have to go around and get lower. Nope. This guy dropped the plane from a good altitude and set it down nice and smoothly on the runway. Blew my mind. He’s done this MANY times before. When we finally got home the dogs were very happy to see us, Bill ran Alexi home and I loved on the pups.

I had been dying to go to Mega Paca the last few days but they had been closed down by the DEI. They are like the IRS on steroids with flak vests and machine guns and a Terminator demeanor. I was going to write a whole blurb about it but my friend Jeanette Gartner already did so here is her link,  check it out, it’s amazing what they have done and are still doing on the island. We do not feel threatened, it just shows how very corrupt and backward this country is. However, we do NOT have mass shootings like the US is experiencing on a daily basis (it seems). People think Roatan is an unsafe place to live and some have even left because of that. Honestly, I do not feel unsafe here at any time. I use precautions just like I would in the US, I drive all over the island, alone. Are there places I won’t go? Yep. Were there places I didn’t go in Bellingham or Seattle? Yep.

Rumor was Mega Paca would be open Tuesday and to my utter delight, it was. I strolled through the housewares and my favorite color of green caught my eye. I ran around to the other side of the shelf and grabbed it. I immediately flipped it over and it is a brand spanking new green Chantal baking dish. It was $10.00. It was also going to be mine!! Score.

The next few weeks are going to be busy, BJ’s, Mondays Don’t Suck, a gift wrapping party and then 3 Christmas parties for the kids on various locations on the island, plus friends come in on a cruise for the day and I am picking them up and hanging out with them. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the month. Tomorrow is Spanish class, then BJ’s, Sat we are taking our friends to West Bay to get a mattress they bought then going to meet Liza and Mike, maybe snorkel, have lunch on the beach and visit with them before they head back to Oregon.

We have been dealing with foot issues with the dogs. Gringo has a sore between his toes, he was limping, Lola has her back feet licked raw and Highway’s one paw was swollen to twice it’s normal size. They are on a variety of meds right now. My concern is the meds are a band-aid because we don’t know the cause of any of this. If we stop the meds, the issues return. We may end up taking all 3 to ProVets and that will be super expensive. They come once a month from the mainland and they do testing, skin scrapings, etc.,but they charge just like the vets in the US. OUCH! 3 dogs at once..

I need to get something accomplished today besides organizing my closet. I have too many clothes and don’t wear half of them. I gave Melissa, my cleaning girl, a big bag of stuff and I have more for her.

This time of year is hard down here, I miss my boys a lot. I wish I could be with them and my parents and brother and sister and Bill’s sisters for the holidays but I can’t. I get involved in so much stuff down here trying to help the kids on the island that it’s difficult for me to leave now, I’ve already committed to these things and I want to be a part of them so here is where I’ll be.

As I was surfing the net I came across this hysterical story. It’s about a man who borrowed his son’s GoPro camera to take a trip to Vegas. His son didn’t give him any lessons on how to use the GoPro, so the poor guy used it the whole vacation but had it backwards on the selfie stick. His vacation photos of Vegas are actually photos of him with some of Vegas behind him. Check it out, it’s pretty funny. Definitely a blonde thing, in other words, I could have done that.

I’ll attempt to do a better job at blogging, when I don’t have a lot of readers it almost seems like a waste of time and I get discouraged and grumpy. If there are subjects you would be interested in knowing about, please let me know and I’ll do my best to fill you in with the down and dirty truth.

This photo is my cover pic on FB. I did not take it, it was taken by a friend of my friend, Laura Osterloh. I got to know Laura because her husband worked at Grizzly. Bill and I were the first people to visit their first 2 children when they were born. Jack is the oldest, then Ellie, who was born with Cystic Fibrosis and then sweet Ava. Early September Laura got sick and was sent down to Seattle where they discovered she had pancreatic cancer. She was not able to eat or to go to the bathroom due to blockages. They put stents in, did procedures that were very painful, all in an attempt to get her ready for chemo. The first few rounds of chemo did not go well and after her condition worsened the doctors decided there was not much they could do for her. She wanted to go home and be with her children so Hospice was set up in their home on the Bellingham waterfront. Her multitude of friends in Bellingham knew she loved Glassybaby candles so they made this tribute to Laura on the dock outside of the window where her bed was set up.

Her husband posted today that she passed away this morning, she was 45 years old and leaves 3 children behind. My heart is broken. Please say a prayer for her family. Rest in peace Laura.