January 2016 – Mermaid on a Raft

The Planking Sisterhood

bruises

01/31/2016 Saturdays have become a blur to me. This past one was no exception. The weather on the eastern side of the US was causing a major upheavel to the flights arriving from and departing to the US. Many passengers did not make it off the island on Sat., therefore missing all of their connections in the US.. That’s just the way it goes when you travel, Mother Nature is the Ultimate Bitchacha. She wins all the time.

Monday Bob and Rosalie and Marilyn picked me up for our Mondays Don’t Suck days in Camp Bay. We had a great turnout because Franklin and Francie’s kids were here. (3 of them were to leave but couldn’t due to weather) We played some volleyball with the young ones putting us to shame. We forget they can run and we’re old. Well, I should speak for myself, I can NOT run, not even if Channing Tatum was at the finish line. But believe me, I can crawl really fast.

After Volleyball we all cooled off in the angry sea. The waves were pretty high and there was a strong current pushing us westward, it still felt marvelous. We had food, drinks and music. At one point I began a congo line and the women joined in. We danced down around the volleyball net and back up the beach. We plan to do a synchronized version tomorrow that will be filmed.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Beautiful Barbon Beach

Wednesday I went to Coxen Hole muni to attempt to pay the property taxes for my friends. The place was packed. Nidia followed up on it and we need more info than I had because it’s their first time paying. We’ll get this figured out yet.. After that I went to my hair gal Nadia to get my roots corrected.

Thursday Carmen and I had a day of fun in the sun planned, however, there was no sun. We went to Mega Paca looking for accessories for the upcoming Pirate party and actually scored some cool stuff. After that we went to Arch’s Iguana Farm and ran into Mr. Arch himself. I also got to meet my friend Gale’s (Sam Arch’s sister) daughter, Derricka. Oh my, what a doll she is. After that I gave Carmen a tour of Parrot Tree, we checked on my friends home for her and then went to Cal’s for garlic bread and wine. It was a wonderful day spent with a good friend! While taking Carmen home we saw an unusual sight and I was fortunate enough to catch up to the guy.

Friday was the last Spanish class for awhile. After that, it was off to BJs with my newest Mega Paca score, a brand new Woozie (wine glass koozie).

Bill wasn’t working at the house so he planned to come to BJ’s also. When I got out of class Roger said Bill called and there was a dog fight and he got bitten separating the dogs. I didn’t have my phone so I used Rogers to call him back. Apparently Frito got loose and went right for Lola’s throat, for no reason other than hate. In the process of breaking it up, Lola bit him pretty hard on his thumb. I convinced him a beer would make it feel better so he came over for a little while. Frito just hates Lola’s guts because the puppies (Frito’s pups) adore Lola.

When I got home around 3:30 I was so tired I laid down on the couch and slept until 8:30. I woke up, ate yogurt and went to bed. In the morning I was kind of surprised to see my leggings where they were. Oh well, it is what it is.

Saturday I was at the airport until 4:30. The Delta flight was 2 hours late leaving Hotlanta (Atlanta) because the galley oven wouldn’t turn on. What a shame, without it the 5 first class passengers would just have to go without their reheated previously cooked bland nasty food.

Sunday we took the boys swimming @ Parrot Tree again. My new friend from Canada, Diane and her husband Andy are staying there so they walked over to the lagoon and met us. The boys played for about an hour while we chatted. They slowly started to get tired and once they reached the point of groveling in the sand, it was time to leave.

We came home and I bathed all 3 of the dogs, did some laundry and we all napped for awhile. At 4 we had to meet our friend Miguel in Oak Ridge. We found another bag of soccer jerseys buried in the spare room so we ran them over to him. This is the progress on the Ark disco/casino/nightclub. It’s going to be quite the place.

Last, but certainly not least, my poor 90 year old Mom fell and broke her wrist. She was at the computer, the desk chair is armless w/ wheels and they have a mat under it so it rolls easily. Obviously it rolls too easily and got out from under her. She went down on her wrist and broke it in 2 places. They don’t want to operate so they put her in traction and set and cast it. She’s in a lot of pain right now and her knee is bothering her too. I imagine she wrenched that when she fell. So thankful for my sister who got down there as soon as she could safely drive. Hoping things get better and her wrist heals up quickly.

Next week is action packed; hopefully I am not too tired to blog about it. Being retired and having this much fun every day is hard work..I’m trying like hell not to be boring.

They found me

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01/25/2016 There she went just walking ‘cross the floor, singing do wah diddy diddy down diddy do

snappin’ her fingers and shufflin’ her feet, singin’ do-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-do

She looked good, LOOKED GOOD
she looked fine, LOOKED FINE
she looked good, she looked fine
and I nearly lost my mind
Before I knew it she was walkin’ next to me,

And then she was dead.

Squashed by Bill’s shoe. A big assed scorpion, upstairs, in the kitchen and we’ve never had them upstairs before. Not happy about this, I want scorpion barriers. Good news is the big ones don’t have as much venom as the little ones. So the natives say.

I didn’t take a photo of the squashed scorpion because I’m gross, but not that gross. The last time we found a big scorpion, it was the same scenario but it was in the rental house, not ours. The first one was bigger. After the first one met its demise, it laid dead on a paper towel on the kitchen table for 3 days before someone finally threw the damn thing out.

So began my week on the rock.

Sunday morning we took the 3 boys to Parrot Tree for an early morning swim. They were so excited to be there! Not much makes me happier than seeing these 3 guys running and jumping in the water, chasing each other, over and under the beach chairs, up the steps and jumping off the wall. They were exhausted after 30 minutes.

Monday I went to Mondays Don’t Suck with Gypsy Rosalie and Bob. There were only a handful of us there but my favorite Cookie Monster, Roger is back on the rock. We didn’t have the volleyball net so we just ate and drank. A few brave ones went in the water, it was a rough sea for sure.

I was invited to a spa day at Francie’s this past week. I met Jeanie at the top of the hill in Oak Ridge (her husband dropped her off). We met our badass girlfriend Marilyn at BJ’s at 9:30 and she took us by boat to Big Rock, Franklin and Francie’s utterly fabulous home. (click on Big Rock and check out this property, it is for rent and it’s top notch)

There were 3 ladies to do massages, mani’s and pedi’s. I passed on the massage due to still sore ribs and had a nice relaxing pedi. We had a great lunch, bowls of fruit and some adult beverages. Franklin came home from golfing and made us some specialty drinks with fresh grated nutmeg on top, oh my yummy!!

It was almost totally dark when I got home, a long day away from the babies..What a wonderful way to spend a day with friends. So lucky.

This island is divided into 2 parts, Roatan and Santos Guardiola. I am very thankful to say I live in Santos Guardiola. Each part has their own mayor, ours is Carson Dilbert and I know him well enough to always get a hug and a kiss every time I see him. He is a good man who is trying to do what is right. The mayor on the other end of the island is not quite an upstanding person. When the DEI came in here toting guns and closing businesses, he left the island. He was not here to stop them. Just recently he proposed a new tax plan that is discriminatory, ridiculous and illegal. He thought in his nonfunctioning brain that this was a smart way to get some new $$ for raises for many of the people who work at the municipal. The business people were up in arms over this, taxing foreign dive instructors and other ridiculous things.. Anyhow, my friends on the other end of the island decided to have a march against what he is doing. Ironically, as soon as he got wind of what was going to happen he supposedly rescinded the cruise ship tax and the raises. he thought the march was cancelled. Surprise.. we were still marching.

I got to the airport where the march began at 8 AM. My friend Daine was there and Nidia’s oldest son Franklin. I helped pass out t-shirts and by 9 AM we had passed out 500 of them (purchased with $$ Daine and Nidia raised) that said Roatan United on them.

At 9:15 we were off, the march had started.

600 people strong, photo credit, Aaron Etches

Aaron (2) — In front of the municipal office, photo credit Aaron Etches

Of course, the illustrious Mayor was nowhere to be seen. His minions took to Facebook afterwards and claimed we were all disgruntled people with a political agenda and not business owners. Bullshit. There were MANY business owners there.

I left downtown Coxen Hole at 11:15, buzzed by the house, Bill gave me a cup of ice water and my books for Spanish class and I drove like the local taxis do so I could get to class on time. It had rained a little while we were marching so I was semi wet, semi sweaty and really needed wine. I made it through my fun Spanish class taught by Francie and immediately headed to BJ’s with the gang afterwards. Luckily I got there before Jeanie and got the biggest wine glass.. Bitchacha!!

Saturday I was back doing my airport gig. The poor people traveling to the east coast were doomed. Francie’s family didn’t leave as planned, they were headed to the Northeast and decided to wait until Monday to even try to make their connections! It was a long day at RTB. The plane that was supposed to be there at 12:20 arrived at 3:20, we didn’t leave the airport until 4 PM, exhaustion set it, however I still made chicken noodle soup for dinner, it was just what I needed. That and vodka. AND, I just talked about the airport again, oh well, it is a part of my life.

This letter was received about us, the Volunteer Airport Greeters, it is the very reason we do what we do.

In my line of business I travel internationally quite frequently and lately, work with Vegas Electric has been bringing me to Roatan on a more regular basis.

As a frequent traveler in the Americas, I usually know what to expect – a short flight from Houston that may or may not be on time, the signature Roatan warmth as we deplane, and a long line with an air conditioning system that may or may not work. As mentioned, that is more or less what I expect when arriving in Roatan, and to be fair it is not very different than similar destinations in the Americas I travel to.

During my last trip to Roatan however, something was different. We were a little bit late, and the warm embrace of the breeze was unchanged as we deplaned, but something was different with the line at immigration. It was the group of mostly ladies from the Roatan Tourism Board (or Chamber) uncertain of the actual name. They were smiling, they were engaging, they were speaking to every person in line, quite a welcoming sight and experience. It made the usually tedious nature of waiting for your turn go a lot faster, a lot easier and in the end, entirely changed the disposition of the passengers, the immigration officers and the room in general. What a great way to arrive.

The excellent initiative of establishing a formal island welcome in this fashion, makes a difference to new arrivals to Roatan. I can tell you it made a difference to me, and that I also saw it in the faces of other passengers. This is an excellent initiative that in my view should continue as the ladies warmth, smiles and positive energy made a big difference in the arrival and ensure the Roatan difference is felt from before immigration.

As you continue to work towards strengthening and differentiating the Roatan tourist experience, I think this should be an element retained and when possible, extended.

Regards and very nice to meet you.

I love my airport gig and the people I meet there. It’s lobby leading, just not for Bank of America, although they did teach me well.

It was a blustery weekend on the rock. It looked like a battlefield when I walked the dogs.

The locals were freezing their butts off, wearing sweaters and layers of long shirts. It was mid 70’s with a cool wind from the north. I wasn’t cold. I’m still not cold, except I do have on socks with my flip flops..

A couple more photos before I proofread this 19 times and publish it. This is our granddaughter Alexah, she is 13.

11071161_1510810405889528_2626217882231726867_o — Maybe I’m partial but I think she is gorgeous!

This is Chloee, she will be 10 in February.

12495015_10208198564272419_3396366799729997219_n — Look at her dimples, she just got about 4″ cut off her hair, this is the new do. I think she’s a beauty too!

We are so excited for July to come so we can spend some time with the girls and Chance and Alecia. I can’t wait to take them snorkeling and show them around this gorgeous island!!

Signing off this cool breezy January night, going to watch some American Horror Story. I’m wildly fascinated with it.

Get your socks and velour sweatsuits out tonight, it’s going to be a brisk one..it’s 73 degrees at 9:20 PM..

With visions of whale sharks

weird

1/16/2016 My 3 legged dog licks rocks. I’m not lying, she does. She loves it, I’m not overly enthusiastic about the whole thing. For some reason this satisfies a particularly intense need that she has. She drools when she does it, maybe she has a deficiency? Yes, this is the same insane dog who ate between 40 and 50 heart worm pills at once. I still don’t know how she got them out of the suitcase. They smelled like beef, that’s all that mattered: they were hers. We gave her a bottle of liquid charcoal by the syringeful to make her puke. She never vomited but she quickly developed a taste for Charcoal. She did shit pure black the next day, but puke? Nope..

We have had dog collar issues this past week. I was given some dog collars so I changed the boys collars for sturdier ones. The next day Barrio brought me Gringo’s collar, chewed in half. WTH? I put another older used collar on Gring and found it in pieces on the porch later the same day. I put his older collar on and IT WAS CHEWED OFF TOO. I ended up putting the thin cheap Wal Mart collar back on him, it’s been 2 days and all is well. The pleasures of raising 3 male pups can’t ever be put into words. It’s mystifying to say the least.

I have watched again for the billionth # of times a show on Netflix called Iris. Go out of your way to watch this movie, it’s about an amazing woman. She makes me think of the times when I worked at Lynn Hayes in Williamsport, just a young 18 year old girl working in the fanciest, most expensive clothing store in town. I fell in love with fashion. I didn’t follow the norm though, I always wanted to be different. That was my deal. Ladies, do yourself a favor and find the show Iris and watch it, she is an upscale, bohemian fashion icon.

I moped around here on Monday, depressed about Bowie’s death. I think I moved everything and cleaned off the shelves, listening to Bowie. Later on I ran to the store to get stuff to make something to take to the 2nd Annual Port Royal Bash and am glad I went with options in mind because Eldon’s had nothing, again. I was reduced to broccoli salad, which turned out yummy. I ran to Mega Paca and saw 3 friends there, it’s really my favorite store, ever. I can find Banana Republic plain colored t-shirts for around $1.00, dresses for $3.00. I get my shopping fix, spending under $10.00 and come home w/ a bag of stuff. I saw an ugly but large cooler bag there on Monday, didn’t buy it b/c it was orange and green. After I got home it’s all I could think about. This is the story of my life. This is what I did buy though.

I got up early Tuesday and ran to Mega Paca and bought the damn cooler bag. It’s ugly and I love it, it says Tropicana on it. Bob and Rosalie picked me up Tuesday morning around 11, we were meeting other people at BJ’s at noon to get a ride to the party on the Islander . I believe there were about 40 people on the boat on the way over, most with chairs and coolers. It was the usual crowd, most everyone was there and the ones that weren’t, like Bill and my un-named girlfriend, well, we decided they all had hemorrhoids.

Mel and John have recently started building on their gorgeous piece of land on the water in Port Royal. They are doing it building by building, all the while living on their big boat docked right there. It’s really beautiful and serene out there. The easiest way to get there is by boat and it takes close to 30 minutes from Oak Ridge. There is a road but I guess it’s pretty long and not in great shape.

1404705_10154426952147646_4516811767580189175_o — Thanks Keri for the pic of Jeanie and I, although curious why you named it Double Trouble???

Wednesday I cleaned again, this time I moved all the furniture and sucked up 736 pounds of dog hair. No lie. It took forever and then I let the dogs back inside so they could shed some more. I’m a sick sick person.

I read online that whale sharks were spotted in the waters in front of our house so I contacted the dive shop and begged them to call me because I can be there in 10 minutes. Thursday I got up, dressed in my swimsuit and a skirt, had my snorkel bag all packed and they didn’t call. I decided around 1 I had to go to the bank, not a lempira in my pocket, so I reluctantly got dressed and left. I got a call from Holly at the dive shop saying the whale sharks were still in the area and maybe tomorrow. Maybe just became a HUGE word.

Thursday night we went to Chuck and Nancy’s for dinner and were home late and had 6 hungry dogs. I got the dogs fed, watched Modern Family and went to bed. I had visions of whale sharks in my head. Friends, this is at the top of my bucket list, it’s something I REALLY want to do. My dream is of me slipping into the water next to one of these giants and hoping I don’t die from a heart attack due to uncontrollable excitement.

I awoke Friday morning, whale sharks still on the brain. I dressed in my swimsuit again and had all my gear ready to go, but no call and it was time for Español escuela so I had get myself ready. I showered and got my stuff around for class.

On my way to Spanish classes (which is always followed by wine at BJ’s) I encountered the following: a young boy thrusting a live chicken, held by the legs, at me as I drove by. Like I’m actually going to stop, grab the chicken, give the boy a few lempiras, strap the sucker into the front seat belt and go on about my day. What reasons could he possibly have come up with in his mind that I was going to stop and take a live chicken from him? Do I look like a chicken lady? Isn’t there a law about dangling a live chicken in front of car windshields while the car is moving?

Then around another corner were 2 Brahman bulls standing in the middle of the road. These things are BIG evil looking cows. Shortly after the cows I came upon a TukTuk, a 3 wheeled vehicle like they use in Indonesia. It was filled to maximum capacity with what looked like a bunch of candy and it had a maximum speed of 7 MPH. What I could see through the back window was all colorful foil packets. Maybe they were all condoms and not candy but seeing all of the pregnant ~~women~~ girls on the island I’m placing my $$ on candy.

Power went out a few times last night, not for very long though, thankful we have battery back up for the WiFi! It reminded me that power was out a week or two ago on the West end of the island because someone shot the lines with a bullet. I don’t make this shit up, I don’t need to.

I was asked to be in charge of Saturdays at the airport, making the schedules, finding subs if someone can’t make it. Last Saturday night I was making spread sheets again, good for my brain. Thank you Amanda B.

My friend Amanda Walkins, who is a blogger and also writes for several well known publications, Huffington Post, International Living to name a few, has her own blog.

In her most recent post, she talks about leaving the island and now living in Scotland. She also gives mention of my little blog. Thank you Amanda!!

From Amanda’s blog: Mermaid on a Raft: Debbie retired to Roatan and has been documenting all of her island shenanigans over the last several years. Her humor is hysterical, and her life will make you jealous if you’re still plugging away waiting to retire. She posts tons of photos from snorkeling adventures, her regular social outings with other expats, and the many volunteer activities she does all around the island. She’s incredibly helpful if you’re thinking of retiring to Roatan – be sure to reach out!

Also, Amanda’s handsome Irish Colombian boyfriend said the grape looking things I saw underwater are indeed Sea Grapes..who knew?

I hustled my butt at the airport today. It was a zoo again. Maybe I’ll only mention it when it’s slow because I’m sure everyone says why does she do it if shes going to whine about it. I’m not whining though, just remarking how freaking busy we were. I love mass pandemonium and chaos for short periods of time; therefore, the airport gig is well suited for my personality type. I love it. I worked with my friend Caroline again, we make a great team! I really enjoy meeting the new people, having them look at me with wonderment when I tell them my story of how we ended up here.

As soon as we got home, I had my daily crack.

While at the grocery store I saw Woudsin (my friend from Helene). I gave him a big hug and a kiss. Then some gringo came up and asked me if I lived here and I said sure do. He said we just bought a place, I asked where, he said Helene. He then asked if I knew Perry or Rick and I said yes, that I knew both of them but have known Perry most of my life. I put two and two together, and realized he was w/ Woudsin. He then said to me, did you spend the night at Perry’s and do you blog? I said I sure do and my overnight at Perry and Kay’s blog was called Serene Helene. He said, I read your blog and have the photos you took at Perry’s on my phone. Small island and I’m always happy to meet people with the weirdest connections to me. I told Woudsin to show them where I lived on their way up island and told them to come visit. Welcome Terry and Cal to Helene, Roatan.

The extended dog fence is moving along slowly. As expected. EVERYTHING moves slowly here except taxi’s and $$. The fence they ordered and delivered was 8′, ours is 6′. Damn. Just got the estimate for the gate and windows for the shop and plan to get them started ASAP.

When I finished my yogurt after work (airport) we grabbed a suitcase and a bag, both full of soccer jerseys and shorts and socks. We met our friend Miguel (who just came for dinner last week) with several guys from 2 different teams in Oak Ridge and Pandytown. They were very excited to be getting soccer stuff. The leader is a coach and a minister and his mission is to get the kids off of the street and playing basketball, soccer and volleyball. Our friends, Trish and Dave, from Toronto were given these uniforms by a league back in Toronto. Many thanks to the donating league and to Trish and Dave for carrying all the extra luggage down here. they made so many people (kids and adults) so happy! I will get more photos when the season begins again mid February.

It was fun to see the guys smiling and excited about having jerseys that matched. I gave the teams 2 of the soccer balls Trish and Dave brought also. I feel really good that the uniforms were given to men who still play soccer and who encourage the kids to play as well.

When I finally returned after being gone most of the day the boys were extremely happy to see me. Funny how much I miss them as well.

I still am dealing with the bruised/broken, disintegrated rib from 2 weeks ago. It hurts. I always thought my Mom was exaggerating {when she fell in the big huge green garbage bin trying to retrieve something she threw away by accident} about her ribs but I understand now that she wasn’t. Lesson learned the hard way, again.

Hasta Luego..whale sharks still on the brain.

Urine trouble

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01/11/2016 RIP David Bowie. (please click on the link to listen to Let’s Dance) When I read the news this morning tears involuntarily began streaming down my cheeks, dripping onto my lap. It was not a good start to my day. When it hit me that Ziggy Stardust was no longer, I decided today was not going to be a beach day for me.

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I struggled several times during the morning. We have lost lots of rockers before but the majority of them screw up and kill themselves by OD’ing and then we make a huge deal over their deaths. Freddy Mercury died from AIDS, John Lennon at the hands of a madman and David sang his last song because of Cancer. All fabulous talents, I’m just terribly sad.

Friday I attempted to pay our 2016 taxes, naively assuming I could go there and do this within 30 minutes. LMAO, where do I think I live? Ridiculousness followed. After waiting, chatting with the Mayor, Aaron, Clifford and Bernie, who all work there and my friend Gus who I met at the vet clinic, I left. Spanish class was waiting. Once we were out of Spanish class we all went to BJ’s to party and party we did. They ran out of wine soon after I got there and Marilyn would have none of that shit so she Jeanie and I jumped in Marilyn’s boat and went to her house to get 3 bottles from her personal stash for the bar. That’s just how we do it here. After a few glasses of wine we decided to plank someone’s boat. Thanks for the photo Melanie Wood!

12400736_10153361791785980_8359348102929703331_n (1) — Melanie is always there to help document these events.

12496050_10153361792040980_3320821127242055718_o — Thanks again Melanie Wood. We were dancing fools!

I spent my Saturday at the airport with Caroline, Miss Peggy, Lisa and Linda. It never fails to happen, the first flight was due in at 12:18, it came at 12:55. Fifteen minutes before the next flight and 20 before the next 2. It was crazy again, some man said to me very surprised, “You don’t get paid to do this?” Nope, volunteer. We were notified Friday eve that there was a passenger on one of the planes who was not to be allowed into the country and was to be put right back on a plane to the states. We spotted him before he even entered the building, he was apprehended and somehow talked his way out of the situation, was put through immigration and allowed to stay for the week. Very odd..I was exhausted and still had to go get groceries. The grocery store had nothing, no Blue Harbor lettuce, no jalapenos, no grated cheese, none of my fav yogurt, nada. (update: I went today, Monday, still nada..wth?)

Sunday morning I got up early, walked all 6 dogs, showered, then got things around here and was out the door at 8:30 to be in Oak Ridge for the Catamaran Boat trip. Radical Catamaran Adventures is an absolute blast!! This was my third trip and I’ll be going again Feb. 28th with the vets too! It’s 7 hours on a huge catamaran in the calm clear waters of Port Royal. We stop and snorkel at the cow and the calf, another spot and then a wreck. The boat is non-stop food and drinks, all included in the price, plus music, dancing and craziness. I was with a bunch of friends, and had an absolutely incredible time.

Needless to say, it was a beyond fabulous day on the Radical. It’s definitely something to look forward to when they have their ex-pat specials. A full 7 hours of majestic scenery, warm clear water and a boat full of friends. So blessed to have these people in my life and to get to live the life I am.

When the boat trip was over I stopped and picked up Miguel, our former worker. They were coming for dinner. He was going to bring his brother Winston but he had to leave Sunday so just he and his girlfriend and baby came. We had pizza on the roof. Miguel is such a fabulous, honest, trustworthy person, I’m so glad we have stayed friends.

Update on a few things. I may have mentioned that I fried the extra batteries to my good camera when I dumped the kayak. Well, I tried to use one of the batteries after it dried out and I got an error message on my camera. I then tried the battery that was dry and charged and my camera would not turn on. I charged the battery more, still nothing. I was so flipping bummed because I take pics every single day of my life. I quickly posted on a FB page to see if anyone was coming down in the next few days to bring me a new charger and 2 new batteries. Luckily my friend Linda was arriving Sat. so I sent them to her and she handed them to me when she walked into immigration. I was very doubtful they were going to work but they did. My camera is functioning and I was so damn happy that I didn’t ruin it. Thank you so much Linda!!

Also, my friends from Williamsport that I was going to hang with on Friday at BJs messaged me and said they had to go back to the states immediately. My friends Mom had taken a turn for the worst and they needed to return home. They got there one day before she passed. RIP Mrs. Daniele.

I asked my friend Amanda Walkins to ask her handsome Irish Colombian fiance’ who knows a lot about marine life and the jellies we encountered. This is her response:

This is what the Irish-Colombian says, “Comb jellies do not sting. Moon jellies can sting, but not badly. They were not the ones stinging you though, it was all the siphonophores that you can’t really see, but they’re long strands (did you read Rika’s latest post about the blackwater dives at West End Divers? Courtney took a photo of one – it’s the second-to-last picture in the blog: http://www.cubiclethrowdown.com/). They show up when it’s more stagnant because they’re feeding on the bacteria that accumulates with all those nutrients from the runoff, especially on the south side. It happens there more frequently, but happens on the north/west side, too. That photo of the French Angelfish – you said it was bad viz. That’s the runoff with bacteria and nutrients that the siphonophores and all the comb and moon jellies were feeding on.”

These are some stock images of siphonophores:

Tomorrow is a beach party in Port Royal. I had 3 different things planned to make, knowing that the grocery would not have all of the ingredients I needed so there had to be choices. Thankful that I planned ahead with a few ideas..broccoli salad it is.

My friend Julie (of Robby and Julie, who will be here for a week March 26th) posted this on one of my Catamaran pics; You have more fun in one week than some people have in a decade! Thanks Julie, I sure try!

My parting thought:

If you’re ever sad, just remember that the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.

(instagram photo by @stevendouglas)

Sting me baby one more time

age

1/6/2016 Happy Birthday to me, I swam in the sea, with thousands of Jellyfish, all stinging my ass! It sort of rhymes..whatever.

I worked at the airport on Saturday, once again the last 3 flights landed at the same time, fun afternoon spent meeting new people. It was just Ana, Lisa, Caroline and I working but we did great and got the people in and out of there by 2:30.

Sunday we were invited to Marcia and Dennis’ home so I could do some snorkeling with Marcia and her sister Kande for my birthday. It was my second time on a sea kayak. On the way out we saw Moon jellyfish everywhere we looked. We were hoping once we got into deeper water there would be no jellies. Hah, WRONG!! We kayaked out to way past the reef and the point where normal people would not venture, tied the boats up where the dive boats anchor and slithered into the water. We were surrounded by jellyfish everywhere we looked, thousands of the suckers, Moon and Comb jellies, and other different, unidentifiable to me, smaller ones. I was just in a swimsuit, no shirt, nothing. {It’s a mermaid thing}. Now, I’m not a fan of being stung by jellyfish but after the first dozen stings you just become a BADASS NINJA MERMAID and say f*ck it, lets snorkel. We weren’t thrilled with the first buoy we tied up to, there was nothing to see, so we decided to GET BACK ON OUR KAYAKS in water that was 11 miles deep. {Remember, this was my second time kayaking.} I got in the boat and proceeded to tip the sucker over. In that process I managed to ruin my 2 extra batteries for my camera, still not sure why I even had them with me. Stupidity I guess. It took 3 of us to right the kayak. I got back in it and FELL OUT AGAIN but didn’t tip the kayak. I got back in it the 3rd time (not bad for a 21 year old after 100 attempts) and didn’t move my ass one inch for fear of tipping again. We kayaked over to a shallower spot and tied up to go snorkeling again. We were hoping to get away from the jellies but the closer we got to the wall and the drop off the more jellies there were. I decided screw the fish, this was a jellyfish adventure.
While getting stung, (it feels like a shock, some stronger and longer than others) I managed to get some good shots.

We got in the water at 9:30 and got out around 2. I was so exhausted, my arms hurt from rowing, my legs hurt from kicking. At that point I wasn’t aware of the other bruises I had incurred on my adventure.

Monday was Mondays Don’t Suck. I snagged a ride with Bob and Rosalie out to Camp Bay. We were the first ones there and hoped we wouldn’t be the only ones. The sky was very dark at the horizon, almost black in places but we could see the darkness moving east. Marilyn and Alex came, along with Jeanie, Francie, Franklin and Carol and Tom (Francie’s Mom and her man). We sat around and talked and ate, it was not a normal sunny day, in fact, it got kind of cool, cool enough that people were wrapped in towels and nobody ventured into the water, although I felt it and it felt warm compared to the air.

Jeanie had been complaining about not being able to get her toe nail polish off so someone brilliantly suggested using Off insect repellant containing Deet. Jeanie got a rag from ??? and sat down and sprayed insect repellant on her toenails and tried to rub her toe nail polish off. It did not work. Her toes will never be bitten by bugs again, they are Deeted.

So, my friend Denise from Williamsport got this message:

Hey Denise,

I hear that Deb DOrazio is in Roatan! We just flew through there yesterday on our way to la ceiba!

We will be back in Roatan for Thursday & Friday then we leave on Saturday! Give her my info and we can try to meet up.

Happy new year!
Peace&love ☮

It was from a guy I haven’t seen since the late 80’s. He owns a very well known bar and restaurant back in my home town. He is traveling with his daughter right now on the mainland. If things go as planned they are going to hang out with me at BJ’s on Friday and maybe do dinner Friday night. I hope I get to see them (Fred and Giavana) this week!!

I’m currently recuperating from a bruised rib (under my right boob) from my numerous unsuccessful attempts to reinsert my fat butt back into the kayak and a bruise on my back that is quite mysterious. I didn’t even know I had it, my friends told me about it Monday, Hmm. Love not knowing what I did.

We went to a cocktail party at my friend Judy’s last night. Alex and Marilyn picked us up and we drove to her very secluded incredibly fabulous home high on a hill, overlooking the water. Her house looks like something out of a magazine. While there, my friend Caroline and I decided we would just volunteer for Sat. at the airport again so I emailed Milesse last night. The 4 of us didn’t stay late, we had dogs to feed and Marilyn and Alex still had a drive and a boat ride home.

Looking forward to Spanish classes with Francie and BJ’s later on, hopefully hanging with Fred and Giavana on Friday, Sat at the airport and Sunday on the Free Radical catamaran for 7 hours partying and snorkeling with friends.

Here’s to the weekend, hope you all have a great one!

Oh what a week!

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1/2/2016 Where do I begin?? Holidays in the tropics are pretty darn amazeballs. Last Thursday was, of course, Christmas Eve. I cooked a Mexican Chicken casserole and made a loaf of beer bread for the party. Alex picked us up in their boat at BJ’s at 4:30 and whisked us off to Carmen and Brett’s who live on Calabash Bight Key. The evening plans were dinner at Carmen and Brett’s, then some boat caroling, then drinks and dessert at Alex and Marilyn’s.

When we stopped at BJ’s dock (the place everyone hangs out on Fridays) she and Carmen (her husband) came out and we sang for them. Let me digress here for a second. THEY, not we sang for them. {I can not sing. I have known this for years. Others say they can’t sing but they can, I am physically unable. I wish I could but I can’t so I don’t. You should thank me.} In my mind I was singing, loudly and as on key as Adele. Rosalie recently sent me the words to BJ’s version of Rudolph called AMBROSE THE AMOROUS ANTELOPE:

Ambrose the amorous antelope had a very shiny ass. And if you ever saw it, you would say it was made of glass. All of the other antelope used to laugh and call him names. They wouldn’t let poor Ambrose play in any antelope games. Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say, Ambrose with your ass so bright, won’t you be my backup light. Then how the antelope loved him, and they shouted out with glee, Ambrose the glass assed antelope, you’ll go down in history!

That was pretty much the best thing ever! After all the treats for the people were gone we went back to Marilyn and Alex’s. The other 2 boats came and Bill and Brett (they didn’t go caroling) came over from Brett’s also. Marilyn had a variety of desserts and of course, more drinks. FYI: I was at the water point, that’s all I drank. We hung out for awhile and chatted with people. We were the only ones headed west for the night and didn’t want to keep Alex up by having to taxi us home at O dark 30 so we got a ride while he was still up and moving. It was a semi wet, salty for sure, beautiful ride over to BJ’s and our car.

Christmas came and went, not much fanfare here. We talked to the boys and to my parents and wished everyone a Merry Christmas! Around noon we headed down to Sandy Bay to have Christmas dinner with Dave and Trish and Bob and Rosalie. We sat down in Dave and Trish’s new area for drinks, then moved to the dining room for roast chicken, mashed potatoes corn and other goodies. After dinner we had dessert on the front porch. The dessert was pretty spectacular itself, chocolate rum cake. Ohmygosh, decadent. It was a wonderful Christmas day spent with good friends!

Saturday I was back at the airport and it was a freaking zoo. Four major airline flights came in within 30 min. max. It was chaos but we had it controlled so it was all good. Good chaos is the best. I got out of there a little after 2:30.

On Sunday I was brave and took Max and Barrio swimming to Parrot Tree. I did not take Gringo because he had a hot spot on his leg and contrary to what people say, I don’t like open wounds in the sea..too much chance for bacteria. He had to stay home. I was stressed about taking the 2 of them, together they weigh 100# and are strong boys. They were much better than I expected.. I didn’t take beach pics of them because my friend Susan came over and I was chatting with her. These pics are before I turned them loose.

I stayed for over an hour floating and chatting with Susan while the boys ran all over. They were really good, when they started to go where they shouldn’t, I called to them. Barrio came right away and Max has to push it, he goes for a minute, then he comes. Need to break that habit. I brought them home, bathed the 2 of them, fed all of the dogs and took a shower myself. Susan and her friend Gayle picked me up for lunch. We went to Herbie’s and ate. It gets loud in there on Sundays, a football day. Every football game in the whole world is on one of their hundred TV’s. A loud place to be on game day, we sat outside.

Monday I was going to Monday’s Don’t Suck. I rode out with Trish and Dave. There were only a handful of people along that day and it was so much fun. We ate, drank, swam, floated and played volleyball. I have not played volleyball since high school and despite the fact I can’t run b/c of my knee, I had a blast and wasn’t as totally sucky as I thought I would be. I look forward to playing again!

We actually played VBall twice, that’s how GOOD we are. Afterwards we all packed up our stuff and headed home. Dave and Trish dropped me off around 4’ish. I was exhausted from all the fun of the day. Jeanie brought me some new coloring books when she came to the beach earlier so I started coloring that evening to help me relax. I love my coloring books, the new favorite is called Lost Ocean. Right up my alley.

One of the gals who works on Tuesday at the airport was sick so I volunteered to take her Tuesday afternoon gig. There was only one flight coming in, 118 people and it took FOREVER to get the passengers through immigration. I felt sorry for the people in line.

My friend Nancy who has the Balinesian home 4 minutes from us has been bugging me to come over spend the day to meet her friends who are here visiting. I had lots of stuff to do Wed. afternoon so I popped by unannounced in the morning. I met her 2 friends plus Nancy had invited Maggie, Jeanie and Susan too. I only hung out for awhile, I had too many errands to do that day. One of them being the bank and I totally blew it off on Wed. Thursday morning I had no options other than go to the bank, ugh. I got there and there were no lights on but the guard let me in and there were many other people in there. I saw my friend Ven in line so I was talking to her when I realized Carmen was in there too. The bank said they couldn’t give out any $$ so Carmen and I went outside to chat. While standing out there, the lights came back on. Obviously they were having a generator issue..I finally got my money and came on home.

I was trying to decide if I was going to the NY Eve party or not. Bill was opting out because he doesn’t like the house empty so I decided rather than stay home and do nothing, I was going. I got ready and left for Jeanies, who lives on the north shore, around 3. Once I got to her house we gathered our shit and headed back over the mountain to Calabash Bight Resort on the south shore. There were a few people already there but soon after we got there people started to come. For 400 LPS (about 20 bucks) you got roasted pig, chicken and shrimp with many sides for the meal and they had an open bar. I had already decided early in the evening not to drink much so after a glass of wine I hit the wine glass with water thing..We danced and laughed and watched tremendously fabulous fireworks, á la the Christophers. They were some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen, all out over the water, gorgeous evening with wonderful fun friends!

I have no photos of Martina, the hostess who always goes out of her way to make things pretty damn perfect!! Such a fun party, I’m so glad I went. Amazing shindig Martina, thank you!

What would my blog be without some dog photos. I find it amazing that my dogs match the floor so well. It’s almost like I knew they would and that’s why I have them. In my mind I often rationalize things logically that way. It’s one of my gifts. Singing is not.

Jeanie had a watchie at her house for NYE so we had to leave at a reasonable time. I went back to her house and crashed there rather than drive another 30 minutes home alone from the eastern boundaries of the rock. I awoke this morning at her fab house to the sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks below. What a fantastic sound to hear when you wake up, nothing better. New Years Day I came home, walked ALL 6 dogs, fed them and slept for 3 hours, tomorrow back at the airport for the day. I’m ready for bed, again.