This is a condensed blog entry from February 2008, which if you followed my now defunct previous blog, you've already read. If you didn't follow it, shame on you and enjoy. Girl Trip 2009 is coming up next month, so I thought I'd get you going with this entry.
Every February for the last 11 years, I have been on a Girl Trip for my friend Pam’s birthday. Pam is not only one of my best friends, she used to be my sister in law. My first husband is Pam’s husband’s brother. I cannot tell you how blessed I am to have her. Pam is the kind of friend who is always there to listen to me rant, to cheer me up when I’m sad or to make me laugh until tears stream down my cheeks. She is as silly and goofy as I am and that, my friends, is a tall order.
Our Girly Travels over the years have taken us to Las Vegas (where Pam once won ten thousand dollars on a slot machine!!), San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, New York, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. This year was our first International Girl Trip. There were five of us. Me, Pam, Deb, Angela and Laura. Our theme this year was Pirate Girls. And yes, our themes are always cheesy.
The Players:
Pirate Pam of Odessa (pronounced 'Pay-um' there)
Lovely Laura of Tulsa
Adventurous Angela of Tulsa
Deb - Pirate from the Frozen North
And Me, who you already know and love
Angela had gone down the day before and after enduring some flight delays and an unexpected stop in San Antonio, but she made it. As our ferry pulled into the dock, we spied Angela...with beer! She handed us each an ice cold Sol with a lime slice as she slipped Mardi Gras beads over our heads. What a special welcome. I felt like I was on Fantasy Island. Where the hell is that Tattoo guy?
We walked the easy couple of blocks to Casa Sirena and were so glad to get there and see Steve’s smiling face. We settled in our rooms - Pam, Deb and I in the suite and Laura and Ang next door. As we unpacked, Pam noticed that her beach bag was missing. It’s contents? A book....her cell phone (yikes) and uh....her passport!!! Holy Crap! She knew she had it prior to boarding the transfer van in Cancun, so we figured it was either on the ferry or in the van. We told Steve about it and he called Kathryn (our travel agent extraordinaire) and we vowed to worry about it tomorrow. After all...tomorrow is another day and this one is already going too fast! Pam was a Pirate Girl without a country, but she was too tired to worry about it now.
We strolled back to Casa Sirena to clean up for Happy Hour. I rebelled and went to Happy Hour in my swimsuit and coverup. Deb was exhausted and went to bed. She had a rough day and deserved some rest. Happy Hour on the roof was wonderful, as always, and we met some fun people.
After Happy Hour Pam decided that it was enough for her. Angela, Laura and I went out in search of dinner and ended up at Miguel’s.
Angela and I ordered Pina Coladas (2 X1! YAY!) and Laura ordered water. We split an order of Chicken Nachos and a dinner of Yucatan Shrimp. They were both delicious and enough for three of us. Total bill was $384 pesos. Great deal. Luis, the guitar player was entertaining, so we took his picture.
Thursday arrived in glorious Isla fashion. Deb awoke feeling well, Pam was rested and all was right with the world, save for one missing passport. We still felt certain that it would turn up on the van.
We sat in the garden of Casa Sirena and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of fruit crepes with yogurt and granola, coffee and fresh squeezed juice and then headed out to the ferry ticket office to check on Pam’s lost bag. The lovely lady who was working there couldn’t have been more kind and helpful. She radioed over to the Cancun side and spoke to a few people, all the while apologizing for us having to wait for a reply. No problem! Thankfully, Deb speaks fluent Spanish and was able to explain to her exactly what had happened and what we were looking for. The bag is an army green beach bag with a big Rolling Stones logo on it. She took down Pam’s name and we gave her a business card from Casa Sirena and left, still believing that it would all work out.
That night at Happy Hour we all discussed the lost passport ordeal. I told Pam that I thought the whole thing was a hoax and it was just a ploy to get to stay longer. I imagined us all on the ferry leaving on Sunday, with Pam waving goodbye from the dock. Just as the ferry pulls away, Pam would whip her passport out of her back pocket, holding it up in the air with one hand while giving us the finger with the other hand and yell ‘PIRATE!’.
It was thought, at this point, that Pam would have to file a police report and then go over to Cancun to the US Consulate. Later we found out that she would have to stay an extra couple of days, travel to Merida by bus and get a temporary passport there. Steve could not have been more helpful and wonderful, reserving a room for Pam in Merida at a friend's B and B, explaining the entire process (yep, he'd done this before) and calming us all down. I was starting to get jealous that she got to stay and go on an extra adventure. I think that if we hadn’t had Steve at this point, our vacation would have really taken a nosedive. As is was, Pam had a few moments of panic (and I mean a few, like two tears and then she was fine) and then we moved on!
THINGS WE DID:
Enjoyed the beach! Hunted for Sea Glass on Playa Media Luna and lounged/swam at Playa Norte.
Ate, drank and were merry at Steve's Happy Hour and fabulous breakfasts at Casa Sirena, Miguel's, Buho's, French Bistro, Rolandi's, Chili Loco, Alexia y Giovanni and Picus. Yep, we got around.
Did some sightseeing on a couple of golf carts at Hacienda Mundaca and the South End of the island.
Saw old friends and made new ones!
We met some guys on our final night at Picus, who were on a Guy Trip doing some fishing. They were from South Carolina and were very nice. One of the guys commented, “On Guy Trips, we go fishing. What do you do on Girl Trips?” Recalling an old joke that Pam’s husband had once made, I answered, “Pillow fights in our underwear.” He said, “What?!” and we just laughed. Then his friend was trying to smoke a cigar, but had forgotten to cut the end off. “Bite it like a Pirate”, Pam yelled. I think we frightened them.
Went to see Hortensia almost every day because the girls couldn't get enough of her clothes!
Flitted around the island to see cool things and be randomly fabulous
Lost Passport -- The Rest of the Story:
As we got ready for Happy Hour Friday night, we decided that since we had to switch rooms the next day (someone else had reserved the suite, so we were moving upstairs) that we would pack up a little. Pam was folding her dirty clothes when all of a sudden her passport fell out of the pocket of her pants that she had worn on Wednesday. She picked it up and held it up to us and said meekly “pirate?”.
There was much cheering. Pam ran downstairs and showed it to Steve and everyone else who was down there and the screaming could be heard across El Centro. Deb ran downstairs and snatched the passport out of Pam’s hand and said “This is going in the safe!”. It was definitely a happy Happy Hour that night.
It was a great trip. The weather was beautiful, we had many adventures and laughed a lot. That's what Girl Trip is all about.
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This is when Brent got to be Batman and I always had to be Robin. I'm pretty sure that I was just happy to be included. As in adulthood, I had abs of steel even then.
I don't know where to start here, the gold curtains? My green elfin tights? The fact that they probably had to pay Brent to put his arm around me? The Charlie Brown Christmas Tree? Oh, it's all too yummy.
These pics were taken on the day that I got my new bedroom furniture!! It was like my own little tiny Extreme Home Makeover and I was thrilled to the point of Hula Dancing! Don't you love the royal blue carpet? We had that throughout the house, except my brother's room was carpeted in bright red!
It's cold and icy outside today and I am being a bad girl and trying to coerce my friend, Pam into extending our California trip an extra day next week and going to Disneyland all day! Carpe Diem!
Leapin' Lizards! My daughter has been cast in a local children's theater production of 'Annie'. She will play three parts - an orphan, a servant in the mansion and 'Star to Be' (in the NYC street scene, she is the one who has just come to NYC to become a star and she has a SINGING SOLO!) She couldn't possibly be more excited.
Rehearsals are 2-3 times a week and the play is in April. It is going to be so cute.
Friday night, she sang at the school 'Variety Show' and it was so much fun. She sang Taylor Swift's 'Love Story' with her dad accompanying her on the guitar. I will post pics of that soon (I got a new computer at home and have to get up and running). We went out to a celebratory dinner afterward with our good friends. She has also been asked to sing at a Soccer Banquet. She has gigs! LOL.
C on Broadway
I love vacation because I have the time to do silly things that I would never do otherwise. Okay...I do a lot of silly things, but you know what I mean.
During our September 08 trip to Isla Mujeres, I walked on the beach almost every day and collected shells and seaglass, then came back by the pool and made a mosaic out of my treasures.
My favorite ones are the fish and the castle. I want to live in the castle. If you look closely you can see that it has little clam shell 'window boxes' with real flowers in them.
I ended up with about 7 pounds of goods and yes, my luggage was over the accepted weight and we had to shift some to Mr. Wonderful's luggage. It's all about the sacrifice.
Hurricane Ike had just passed near the island, so the beach was loaded with sea glass and shells. I could have filled a big black leaf bag!
a close up of some interesting pieces
While we're on the subject of glass, I also have some pieces of Slag Glass that I really like. I got them in Arkansas and they are (I am told) leftovers of glass from factories that make glass products. I think they're really pretty and I display them in bookcases, on my mantle, etc. I imagine they would also make a great Ninja weapon in case of emergency.
I found the above pic on the internet, and it looks very much like the little shop where I bought my pieces. It's kind of fun to pick out the size, shape and color that you want. They come in marble size up to boulder size.
I googled 'Slag Glass' and it mostly came up with a different definition, more like Carnival Glass and showed pics of a lot of lamps with marble-y glass. So, I guess we'll just have to go with my definition above unless anyone else has something to add.
Anyway, I guess I like glass that is usually considered trash in any form. Maybe when I get older, I'll start scouting recycling bins in my neighborhood. Hee hee.
Vee brought up an interesting question about the origins of blue sea glass being Milk of Magnesia bottles. Here is some info I found online that I thought was interesting:
The color of sea glass is determined by its original source. Most sea glass comes from bottles, but it can also come from jars, plates, windows, windshields, glasses, art, flasks, containers, and any other glass source that has found its way into the ocean. Some collectors also collect sea pottery.
The most common colors of sea glass are kelly green, brown, and clear. These colors come from bottles used by companies that sell beer juices, and soft drinks. The clear or white glass comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields, windows, and assorted other sources.
Less common colors include jade, amber (from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early bleach bottles), golden amber (mostly used for spirit bottles), lime green (from soda bottles during the 1960s), forest green, and soft blue (from soda bottles, medicine bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 1800s and early 1900s, windows, and windshields.) These colors are found about once for every 25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.
Uncommon colors of sea glass include sea foam, which comes primarily from early to mid-1900s Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, and RC Cola bottles, as well as beer bottles. Soft green colors could come from bottles that were used for ink, fruit, and baking soda. These colors are found once in every 50 to 100 pieces.
Purple sea glass is very uncommon, as is citron, opaque white (from milk glass), cobalt and cornflower blue (from early Milk of Magnesia bottles, poison bottles, artwork, and Bromo-Seltzer and Vicks VapoRub containers), and aqua (from Ball Mason jars and 19th century glass bottles.) These colors are found once for every 200 to 1,000 pieces found.
Rare and extremely rare colors include gray, pink (often from Great Depression era plates), teal (often from Mateus wine bottles), black (older, very dark olive green glass), yellow (often from 1930s Vaseline containers), turquoise (from tableware and art glass), red (often from nautical lights, found once in every 5,000 pieces), and orange (the least common type of sea glass, found once in 10,000 pieces.) These colors are found once for every 1,000 to 10,000 pieces collected. Some of the black glass is quite old, originating from thick eighteenth-century gin, beer and wine bottles.
I have found purple, grey, pink, vivid turquoise and yellow, but never red or black! I do find a lot of pale seafoam that is very obviously from old Coca Cola bottles. I love that color, especially when it has the waves in it from the bottle design. I found one very frilly piece of pink glass with scalloped edges that had to be a fancy plate which now adorns the neck of Dianne aka Mrs. Jorge.
Anyway, I thought that was interesting! I am feeling better today and looking forward to the weekend.
I'm in no mood today. I have a cold and my nose is as red as Rudolph and my children have five thousand activities this week.
So today we're going to talk about a tv show that I would love to see which would be called 'Uncle Ted's Celebrity Canned Hunt'.
The Premise: Ted Nugent used to be a rock star but now he's a crazy gun toting NRA freak. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I'd like see chosen celebrities placed out in an ranch (fenced in, but several acres) with no survival tools. Ted would then hunt them down. That is...if the roaming wild animals don't get to them first. All they have is their celebrity staus....and each other. Last celebrity standing wins a trip to rehab. (And don't think I haven't thought about faking an addiction so that I can go to rehab and get some rest, because I have!)
The first round of celebrities would be:
Tara Reid
Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee and Kid Rock (shackled together for extra fun!)
Whitney Houston
Bobby Brown
A certain coworker of mine (okay, not technically a celebrity, but it's my blog)
Tom Cruise
Mariah Carey (that high pitched squeal will attract the wild dogs)
The Olson Twins
Who would you pick? (Yes, I AM mean today, you got a problem with that?)
Lovely Laura of Tulsa
Adventurous Angela of Tulsa
Deb - Pirate from the Frozen North
And Me, who you already know and love
Angela had gone down the day before and after enduring some flight delays and an unexpected stop in San Antonio, but she made it. As our ferry pulled into the dock, we spied Angela...with beer! She handed us each an ice cold Sol with a lime slice as she slipped Mardi Gras beads over our heads. What a special welcome. I felt like I was on Fantasy Island. Where the hell is that Tattoo guy?
We walked the easy couple of blocks to Casa Sirena and were so glad to get there and see Steve’s smiling face. We settled in our rooms - Pam, Deb and I in the suite and Laura and Ang next door. As we unpacked, Pam noticed that her beach bag was missing. It’s contents? A book....her cell phone (yikes) and uh....her passport!!! Holy Crap! She knew she had it prior to boarding the transfer van in Cancun, so we figured it was either on the ferry or in the van. We told Steve about it and he called Kathryn (our travel agent extraordinaire) and we vowed to worry about it tomorrow. After all...tomorrow is another day and this one is already going too fast! Pam was a Pirate Girl without a country, but she was too tired to worry about it now.
We strolled back to Casa Sirena to clean up for Happy Hour. I rebelled and went to Happy Hour in my swimsuit and coverup. Deb was exhausted and went to bed. She had a rough day and deserved some rest. Happy Hour on the roof was wonderful, as always, and we met some fun people.
After Happy Hour Pam decided that it was enough for her. Angela, Laura and I went out in search of dinner and ended up at Miguel’s.
Angela and I ordered Pina Coladas (2 X1! YAY!) and Laura ordered water. We split an order of Chicken Nachos and a dinner of Yucatan Shrimp. They were both delicious and enough for three of us. Total bill was $384 pesos. Great deal. Luis, the guitar player was entertaining, so we took his picture.
Thursday arrived in glorious Isla fashion. Deb awoke feeling well, Pam was rested and all was right with the world, save for one missing passport. We still felt certain that it would turn up on the van.
We sat in the garden of Casa Sirena and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of fruit crepes with yogurt and granola, coffee and fresh squeezed juice and then headed out to the ferry ticket office to check on Pam’s lost bag. The lovely lady who was working there couldn’t have been more kind and helpful. She radioed over to the Cancun side and spoke to a few people, all the while apologizing for us having to wait for a reply. No problem! Thankfully, Deb speaks fluent Spanish and was able to explain to her exactly what had happened and what we were looking for. The bag is an army green beach bag with a big Rolling Stones logo on it. She took down Pam’s name and we gave her a business card from Casa Sirena and left, still believing that it would all work out.
That night at Happy Hour we all discussed the lost passport ordeal. I told Pam that I thought the whole thing was a hoax and it was just a ploy to get to stay longer. I imagined us all on the ferry leaving on Sunday, with Pam waving goodbye from the dock. Just as the ferry pulls away, Pam would whip her passport out of her back pocket, holding it up in the air with one hand while giving us the finger with the other hand and yell ‘PIRATE!’.
It was thought, at this point, that Pam would have to file a police report and then go over to Cancun to the US Consulate. Later we found out that she would have to stay an extra couple of days, travel to Merida by bus and get a temporary passport there. Steve could not have been more helpful and wonderful, reserving a room for Pam in Merida at a friend's B and B, explaining the entire process (yep, he'd done this before) and calming us all down. I was starting to get jealous that she got to stay and go on an extra adventure. I think that if we hadn’t had Steve at this point, our vacation would have really taken a nosedive. As is was, Pam had a few moments of panic (and I mean a few, like two tears and then she was fine) and then we moved on!
THINGS WE DID:
Enjoyed the beach! Hunted for Sea Glass on Playa Media Luna and lounged/swam at Playa Norte.
Ate, drank and were merry at Steve's Happy Hour and fabulous breakfasts at Casa Sirena, Miguel's, Buho's, French Bistro, Rolandi's, Chili Loco, Alexia y Giovanni and Picus. Yep, we got around.
Did some sightseeing on a couple of golf carts at Hacienda Mundaca and the South End of the island.
Saw old friends and made new ones!
We met some guys on our final night at Picus, who were on a Guy Trip doing some fishing. They were from South Carolina and were very nice. One of the guys commented, “On Guy Trips, we go fishing. What do you do on Girl Trips?” Recalling an old joke that Pam’s husband had once made, I answered, “Pillow fights in our underwear.” He said, “What?!” and we just laughed. Then his friend was trying to smoke a cigar, but had forgotten to cut the end off. “Bite it like a Pirate”, Pam yelled. I think we frightened them.
Went to see Hortensia almost every day because the girls couldn't get enough of her clothes!
Flitted around the island to see cool things and be randomly fabulous
Lost Passport -- The Rest of the Story:
As we got ready for Happy Hour Friday night, we decided that since we had to switch rooms the next day (someone else had reserved the suite, so we were moving upstairs) that we would pack up a little. Pam was folding her dirty clothes when all of a sudden her passport fell out of the pocket of her pants that she had worn on Wednesday. She picked it up and held it up to us and said meekly “pirate?”.
There was much cheering. Pam ran downstairs and showed it to Steve and everyone else who was down there and the screaming could be heard across El Centro. Deb ran downstairs and snatched the passport out of Pam’s hand and said “This is going in the safe!”. It was definitely a happy Happy Hour that night.
It was a great trip. The weather was beautiful, we had many adventures and laughed a lot. That's what Girl Trip is all about.
