Hola, Amigos

I can hardly believe that I have been back from Mexico for two weeks now!  When I look at my fading tan and the snow flying outside, I am transported back to reality.  Jake and I had a great trip, it was a great time for us to reconnect and have conversation that wasn't interrupted with the demands of a busy Toddler!

This was my view for the entire week of vacation.

I found a chair that was conveniently located by the pool, and still allowed me to see and hear the ocean.  I spent the week sleeping, eating, sipping margaritas and dirty monkeys, AND I even managed to power through three books!  Now that I am home my activities have changed slightly: chasing, eating bites of leftover PB&Js or Goldfish that have been tossed on the floor, COFFEE is my drink of choice (and yes, many mornings I wish it had alcohol in it), and reading about three PAGES of my book before I drift off to sleep at night.

It is funny how when we are away on vacation, at the end we are so excited to get home.  Then when we get home, we wish for just a few more days of vacation to ease ourselves back into "real life."

Jake always gets a little antsy just laying around, this is where our vacation preferences differ GREATLY. I LOVE the beauty of doing NOTHING.  So I agreed (begrudgingly) to try and have a cultural experience while in Mexico, and we visited the Mayan Ruins.

It was O.K., nothing to write home about.  After visiting the Ruins, we were taken to a cave that looked like a giant sinkhole.  There was a big body of beautiful blue water for swimming, it was pretty cool!

The water was FREEZING (if you can't tell by the look on my face).  After swimming in the cave, they carted us off to a little village for lunch.  Lunch was definitely the highlight of my day, I could not get enough of the handmade tortillas.  We also sat with this darling 80-year old woman from Milwaukee; she was a widow and was on vacation with some girlfriends.  I really enjoyed talking with her about life; her husband attended Medical School at Marquette (which they no longer have, as it is now the Medical College of Wisconsin) and she used to live in the Knickerbocker Hotel!  Her girlfriends kept asking her questions, to which she would reply "damned if I know."  She also took great pleasure in drinking beer, she said she hadn't had it since they lived in Milwaukee and that Vino was now her drink of choice!  So all in all, I could have gone without the Mayan Ruin adventure (but I did it for the hubbs).  I was pretty pissed when he revealed at dinner that he didn't think it was that great.  Damn straight, I spent 4 hours on a bus when I could have been sipping cocktails and reading on to find what would come of Peeta and Katniss' relationship!

Here are a few more pics of the vacay:

For now I am just busy trying to get organized in the office for work, plan James' big Birthday bash,  finish our taxes, clean out my mess of a closet, and catch up on our photo albums.   When is the next vacation?!

On a side note: James had his first Anatomy lesson on Monday night.  Yes, he discovered his penis.  It was one of the rare occasions that the video camera was nearby, and I was able to capture our WHOLE conversation on camera.  When he asked if Mom had a Penis?  I of course replied, "No, just Dad and James."  The look on his face was PRICELESS, complete confusion.  I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to show him this video when he is 18 years old!

Reminiscing

Yesterday was date night!  It was a "special" date night  (of course, any night is special when you can dress up in clothes that are not covered in boogers).  The hubbs and I spent the night in Eau Claire, our former stomping grounds from our college years.  We had a wonderful 4-course dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (which was considered a VERY special treat in college due to limited funds), however we did SPLURGE occasionally when Jake would donate plasma!  After dinner we had time to kill before our movie, so we drove through campus.  As we passed Water Street, Jake commented on how few people were out for a Friday night.  To which I simply replied, "um it is only 8."  I remember many 'o nights that didn't even begin until 10 p.m.!  Most nights END at 10 for us us now..........oh how times have changed!

It was so wonderful to reminisce about where our lives were 5 years ago, and where they are today.  I miss the constant contact with friends, but I surely do not miss keeping the thermostat at 60 degrees in the dead of Wisconsin Winter.  Or who could forget the diet of scrambled eggs, cereal, and ramen noodles?

At the end of our evening I was feeling young and attractive, a lot like a freshmen in college.  Went to bed, and woke up......................with Pink Eye!

February, Really?!

It is really February?  This is just a scary thought to me because I honestly feel as though it was just yesterday that I was making ridiculous resolutions, to get 8 hours of sleep every night, drink plenty of water, cut down my coffee intake, workout 3x weekly.......you get the picture. Yeah, these were really just lovely thoughts that I had in my head that never quite panned out into to daily actions.

I had to attend a trade show in Las Vegas for work last week, and it really threw me for a loop.  See, it is normal for me to take one overnight trip a month (2-3 nights MAX).  The reason I have kept it to a 3 night maximum policy is simple: it takes me a WHOLE WEEK to catch up on my life chores (laundry, stocking the cabinets, keeping the house in a presentable state).

On the plane ride home from Vegas, they showed the Movie "I Don't Know How She Does It."  I read the book several years ago and really enjoyed it, however I wasn't so sure about the movie when I saw the previews with Sarah Jessica Parker.  I had a really hard time envisioning her as the main character, Kate.  Kate is a high-powered investment banker, that is married, has 2 children, and a WHOLE LOTTA mommy guilt.  I must admit that I really enjoyed the movie; I don't think I would have enjoyed it in the slightest if I had viewed it in my childless days!  There were two statements that really stuck with me throughout the movie, "Being a Mom to a 2-year old boy is the best!  You are worshipped like a celebrity, while never being judged for your shortcomings."  Secondly, "The inside of a working mother's head resembles a control tower at the O'Hare Airport."

Let's see......other exciting things that happened in the past few weeks.
James bite another child at day care (yup....I was mortified....a feeling I am becoming all to familiar with)
James got pink eye and an ear infection
James flushed a toothbrush down the toilet

Stopping now, need to go make myself a note to call the plumber tomorrow.