Halloweenie, Creepy Skulls and other Miscellany...

It was brought to my attention that most people (I.E. especially Pat, his brother, and family) find my incredibly adorable Árbol de la Vida adorned with Calacas and other Calaveras very creepy. Here are the items in question....


*sigh* They are so uncultured.....

I found my post where I tried to explain the concept of the Mexican Art when I purchasedback in 2006 (Egads, have I been blogging for that long!??). Its a rather long post though....and I found a better summary on Mexconnect. It all goes back to pre-Hispanic times (i.e. indiginous peeps before the Spaniards came to rape our land) and the duality / balance / equilibrium present in that culture.

"The skeletons and skulls of Mexican folk art reflect the dualism fundmental to the pre-Hispanic world view. Without duality in all aspects of life, the universe loses its equilibrium. Animal and human forms; masculine and feminine energies - all are needed. Of all these balancing forces, perhaps none is more significant than that of life and death."

So really, one would fear skulls over babies (death and life) no more than a man over a woman (masculine and feminine energies). That wouldn't make any sense, because all these play equal parts in balacing of the universe. Make sense now?? I think our own fear and creep-outie-ness of skulls and items associated with death are ingrained from a long oppression instilled by our mainly Christian roots, taught to fear death....at least that's how I feel about it.

And in understanding the roots of the art, I can appreciate the beauty! So its NOT creepy - its BEAUTIFUL!!!

VIVA Mexico!!

Today is the 16th of September, Mexico's Independence Day! To all my Mexican friends and family, I say

VIVA MEXICO!

It was not just two years ago when I was drunk in Metepec's Zocalo, ending the night in a multicultural celebration at an Englishwoman's home. I was crying and bawling by the end of that night wondering how on Earth Bush had turned the tables and made the world hate America (or rather, him). That's why you shouldn't drink and discuss world politics. Also, it was the very last time I had a cigarette and rode in an Old School VW bug. AND, the very last time I wore a giant sombrero. I lost it that night.... I purchased it in said Zocalo and left it at said Englishwoman's. It said "Viva Mexico Cabrones".

Now....I celebrate with my family...my sweet husband and darling son...quietly while drinking a glass of wine. There will be no offical Gritos here....but rest assured Mexico will always be in my heart :)

day one

We left Toluca Mexico behind us at about 6:30 AM, with Keith behind the wheel first. We were both anxious to get the hell out of Dodge - Keith so much so that whilst jammin out to some 311 he managed to miss the exit to the highway........and since turn arounds are few and far between, we took about a 30 minute detour to get us back on track.

No big deal though :)

We made stops every couple hours due to my new cheerleader (read: tiny) bladder I have been experiencing of late (hmm.....maybe Pat O'Brien is rubbing off on me?), but Keith didn't mind driving the first 6 hours of the trip. I drove the next four, then Keith for a bit, then me across the border. There was little to see or do across Mexico except drive 100 mph and keep your eyes peeled for Federales.

There was an American Caravan of about for cars - us included - that traversed a good chunk of Mexico (San Luis Potosi through Monterrey - about 500 miles or so) going at least 90 mph....minimum. I yelled at Keith on our trip down here last year for going
100 mph, but when I was behind the wheel I understood why. There is NOTHING but cactus, desert and the occasional burro.....its hard to NOT drive so fast!

We passed through two military check points without so much as a second glance, and we did encounter quite a few Federal Police - one which I was FOR SURE was going to pull us over, but they didn't.

I did decide to pass on a random act of kindness and pay a $50 peso toll for a car behind me.......we caught up to them at a rest area about 5 hours later and the guy was like - "um, did you mean to pay for another car?" I told them nope, I was just trying to be nice. It felt pretty good I tell you! I highly recommend doing unsuspecting things for random people.

After canceling our permission for the car, crossing the border, and checking into our hotel we had a nice dinner at Chili's before calling it a night. This morning I woke up, worked out at the gym, we had a good breakfast and we're just getting ready to hit the road again. I didn't have any plan except to make it to the US in one day, and we've done that, so we're just going to play the rest of the trip by ear.

Thank you God for a safe Trip - AMEN!

On our way......

just a quick post to let you all know that starting tomorrow morn, bright and early, Keith and I will be on our way home.......

Will post when we are in Chicago!

Adios!

pretty chill weekend...

This weekend wasn’t all that exciting – but I did get a lot accomplished. Keith had a rugby game Saturday, but I couldn’t go because I was waiting for some people to stop by to look at the house (for the next tenants) and also for one of the cleaning ladies from work to stop by and take all my old things. She asked politely because, she was going to stop working (something about her husband not letting her work) and they didn’t have many things – so I said absolutely! I was just going to donate it all to Salvation Army anyway, and since it was such a huge pain the ass to get a receipt , it wouldn’t-t make a difference if I gave it to her, or the Salvation Army. She said they will probably use some things, and what they can’t use they will sell…..which is totally cool. So, 90% of the things I wanted to purge are gone. There is still a little bit left, but I will have that ready for the Salvation Army to come and pick up at the end of this week.

Fernando stopped by after my other visitors in the early afternoon, and we decided to head up to the rugby pitch to enjoy the weather and good company, even though we knew the Wallabies’ game would be over. Martha & the boys were in Colorines, so they didn’t join us. It was a beautiful day, and it was nice to spend it out in the sunshine. There was a party after the game that night in Mexico City, but when we got home after lunch we just crashed and took naps, and didn’t feel like doing much of anything – so we just watched movies and TV.

Funny side note – Keith got pulled over by some cops as he was driving to the Pitch – and the cop was making a big deal of our papers being expired for the car. Yes, technically they are expired – they expired with my visa….but it is supposed to renew with a valid visa, regardless of what the expired tag says. Anyway, because of the language barrier – it just ended up being easier to offer a mordida (bribe). I absolutely loathe that system, and I realize that we are being part of the problem by contributing, but it is hard to communicate to really do the right thing, you know? Anyway, I was very proud of myself because when Keith called to tell me so I could talk to the Cop, I didn’t freak out. I think living here in Mexico has made me a little bit laid back – as much as I can be anyway.

I just can’t wait to get back to the US where I can trust the police, and know they are doing their job for the wellbeing of everyone. If I’m ever pulled over I’m going to make sure to tell them that, even if I have to do it smiling while accepting a ticket.

I also got a shit ton of scrapping done – I’m so productive when I don’t have internet to keep me distracted! Maybe I’ll share those tomorrow.

Sunday was spend cooking and watching football. I’m trying to use all the food we have here, so we don’t waste a lot. The only thing we should have to buy is Milk. Can’t go without milk. I’m cooking because I find that I don’t want to cook at all at nights or for lunch, I’m too lazy. I want something I can just warm up. So I made some chicken slow cooker yumminess – cooked first with Italian dressing, then drained, shredded and mixed into a mushroom soup/spices/cream cheese sauce. It came out rather nice!

Then I prepared lasagna for Veronica who is coming over for a farewell dinner tomorrow night. I figured it would just be easier to prepare it now, stick it in the fridge, and then just have to throw it in the oven tomorrow night after work. Should be yummy. I wanted to pick up some wine, but I just got her favorite beer, since she’s more of a beer drinker anyway. Does beer go with Lasagna?

It is SOOO crazy to think this is my last week of work. Even worse, its sooooo crazy to think I’ve successfully procrastinated this long, to leave everything to cram into one stinkin week! No worries though – I will get it all done :)

This morning I had my first conference call with my new sales group. I’m definitely looking forward to that! Just part of the transition that will take me home!!!!

Frogger, Crazy Men & Birthdays

:::::::::::::::::FROGGER:::::::::::::::::

Yesterday I had a true Mexican adventure – I crossed an 8 lane street without using a crosswalk. Now, don’t think I’m living on the edge here – I would have used a crosswalk if they existed here. The truth is, they don’t, and every time I see a family of four lugging 3 small children across a busy thorough fare, or worse, a highway, I cringe. But, alas, that’s how they roll here.

The reason why I did it, is because I had to get some keys copied, and there wasn’t any parking on the correct side of the street, nor was there an easy way to turn around to return to my house (I went during lunch time). So I just parked on the southbound side of the street, and ran across and got the copies made. I tried to do it semi close to a light so I was at least guaranteed some resemblance of a break in traffic. I made it there and back, with little trouble, although I did feel a bit like Frogger. Especially when crossing in front of buses – you never know if they see you or not.

:::::::::::::::::CRAZY MEN:::::::::::::::::

After I had finished with my Frogger adventure and was heading home to eat, I had another unusual experience. When I turned into our neighborhood area off of the main drag, there was a person behind me honking and flashing his lights and trying to pull on the side of me. I’m kind of freaking out – but just trying to ignore him…there is NO way I’m pulling over and letting some crazy man rob me in broad daylight! It was kind of scary. When he finally did pull up beside me – I realized it was our friend Sergio, whom we haven’t seen in quite a while!

He used to work at Wall Street with Keith, but quit when his boss made his life a living hell when he didn’t want to go out with her……anyway, Keith lost his phone, so Sergio didn’t have any way to get ahold of us, so it was very fatuitous that he saw my car (which is very unusual and distinct down here) and followed me, scaring the crap out of me until I realized it was him. I told him I thought he was crazy and trying to kill me :o) Now he has my cell phone number, and hopefully we can have a small get together before we leave.

:::::::::::::::::BIRTHDAYS:::::::::::::::::

Last night, at midnight, it was the birthday of one of our neighbors across the street. I really have no idea who it was, or how old they were, but I know it was their birthday because at midnight, on the dot, the streets of quiet Rancho Las Palomas erupted in the happy sounds of a 9 piece Mariachi band playing Las Mañanitas.

I retired early last night because I was pretty tired, so I was in bed and sleeping by 10:30 – and normally I would be upset by such a disruption in the middle of my sleep – but not last night. It was such a beautiful sound – I love the sounds of trumpets playing in three part harmony with perfect vibrato – and a chorus of men with deep, rich voices belting out songs of antiguity. And of course, there always has to be a couple slightly off tune violins and other booming, handcrafted string instruments. And to look out my window and see an actual birthday serenade – Men in black Charro Suits with silver accents, and one guy with a Serape that just can’t take the cold Toluca nights – well, it was one of those times where I just smiled and thought to myself “WOW! How lucky am I to have had the chance to live here and experience something like this!”
I called down to Keith to see if he heard it (as if it was possible to not hear it) and he said he was looking out the window too. They played a couple of songs, including “Sabes una cosa” which always makes me dance a little bit no matter where I am. So, as I was drifting off to sleep, smile of contentment upon my face, I was dancing a little bit – not just because of the music, but happy to experience that in person, and also happy that I’m almost done and ready to come home. I’m going to miss random experiences like that, but I’ve experienced so much already, and I’m ready to head back to the arms of people I love.

:::::::::::::::::AND WHILE WE’RE HERE:::::::::::::::::

Here are the two pages I worked on Tuesday night. Probably a couple of my new favorites!!!

Forever Fans
This is me & Pat O’Brien, and his niece, Larkin in September 2005. We were all geared up ready to watch the game. I'm pretty sure the Lion's Lost.

Journaling reads: It’s a curse. We love the Detroit Lions. Every year, we think, maybe, they won't suck as bad as last year. But, every year we are forced to endure a toturous season full of new mistakes and a team that invents new ways to lose. Oh well. At least we look good in Honolulu Blue!

You can see credits HERE

Loungin’
This is one of my favorite pictures from Christmas. Pat O’Brien & I were laying on the couch, and my nephew Austin just decided to climb up on me to cuddle and watch Cars with us :) He's too cute!
You can see credits HERE

¡w00t!

I just closed my credit card account. wanna know why? because it has a balance of ZERO! WOOO HOOOO!!! It feels pretty good to get it all paid. Now, I just have another little balance to pay off next month, and I'll be good as gold. SWEET!

I ran again this morning. I did NOT want to get out of bed (suprise suprise, I know) but I did anyway, albiet two snoozes later. I'm following the couch potato to 5K thing. The only bad part today was that I kind of have a little blister on the inside of my left arch. Kind of a bad spot, you know? I need new running shoes anyway, but these will have to serve me for the next 10 runs or so, til I get back to the USA.

Speaking of the USA, I'm not sure if I've shared our official plan......well, its not TOTALLY official, there still maybe some changes, but as it looks now....

I have two weeks of work left. Well, 11 days if you count tomorrow. I think I'll stop working on the 26th because the 29-31 the movers will be a packin up. Its a very strange feeling to know the end is near. Not like its motivating me to get any work done faster - I'm still procrastinating, but I am making progress.

Also on the 31st, my landlady will be stopping by so I can give her the keys and we can have a walk through. I'm planning on doing lots of cleaning and stuff as the movers are done in various rooms - so it should be ready for her. I'm not sure if we'll get all our security deposit back, since the cieling in the maid's quarters is all jacked up due to a little flooding incident during the rainy season, but I'll try to play it off like I didn't do anything wrong, and hopefully avoid any charges.

Which reminds me, I need to contact Prodigy to cancel my service on the 31st - I should probably wait until at least the 29th to cancel though, no? The phone, electricity and gas are all in the landlady's name, so I don't have to do anything there.

Then, we'll either stay in a hotel in Toluca the night of the 31st....or I was thinking maybe we could drive up to Querétaro and stay there for a night, just to make our drive on Feb 1st a bit shorter. Keith made it from the border to Toluca in just 9 hours, but he was also going about 100 mph in some spots, which I just don't feel is very safe.....So if we left from Querétaro it would make it a 7-8 hour drive to the border, and we could leave early and still get my car sticker taken off and make it across the border in daylight, and at our hotel in Laredo before its too late.

The days of Feb 2 - 4 aren't as planned yet. I'm pretty sure we can make it from Laredo to Chicago in two days, but we might take three just because the company is footing the bill and we can do that. I don't know.....I do know we need to be in Chitown before Kick off for the Super Bowl, and we should be able to do that no problem, which is cool.

Our iPod library has grown significantly since our trip down here......so that is cool. Also, I won't be paying out of pocket, which is also cool. I kind of wish I could make it a real Road trip, cris-crossing across the country, stopping and visitng people, but I don't really have the time for that. But, Keith is a good road trip partner (aside from the driving 1000 miles an hour) so really, I'm kind of looking forward to it!!

Year end.......

Thank you so very much for all the kind birthday wishes! It meant a lot to me :o) Each and every one!

INSANE! Its so hard to believe we've been here over a year :o) But, alas, we have, and we have zillions of photos to show for it. I know I've shared my scrapbook pages quite a bit....but I thought I would put together a 2006 Mexico Year In Review video for your viewing pleasure. Its about 6 minutes long or so, and can also be seen on YouTube.

Enjoy!

And a good time was had by all.....

Wow – my post was rather whiney yesterday, wasn’t it? Oh well – I’m back to normal now and in a rather joyous mood. Our dinner last night was a success – everyone seemed to enjoy the food – so much so that we don’t have much for leftovers….just a bit of mashed potatoes and some turkey. Oh, and lots of pies and cakes that people brought with them. It was pretty cool to be able to celebrate an American tradition with all our Mexican friends – they seemed genuinely excited to be able to experience it as well – everyone said it was a first for them! All in all, we had 12 people over, and managed to all fit at one long table (well, two tables put together). Conversation was good, beer and wine was a’flowing – and it was just a great night. Keith did a great job cooking – the food was delish. I was just happy to be able to entertain – I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

Oh, and just in case your wondering, I did not score any Pillsbury biscuits or croissants, but I did find some good little bread thingys at Wal-Mart, and they were rather tasty.

So, now it officially starts the Holiday season. Last year I was rather depressed, so I didn’t even listen much to Christmas music at all, but I am already all revved up for it this year. I’ve had Christmas music on at work and in the car, and hopefully I’ll get my tree all set up tonight as well. Christmas decorating always brings up another college memory for me:

1998 - 445 S. Fifth Avenue – I can’t remember if it was the weekend after Thanksgiving, or sometime later….but Danica and I bought one of those mini-barrels of Budweiser (no, not a pony keg, but the little cute tiny barrel – or big can if you will). We threw on Santa hats (or at least I did) decorated the house, and drank the whole stinkin thing! If I recall correctly we had a pretty good buzz going on there – and the house looked fantastic. It must have been the weekend after Thanksgiving because none of our other roommates were around…..I’ll have to look through my pics, because I think I took a couple…….

Not much for weekend plans in store – decorating and cleaning because Pat O’Brien will be here Thursday (YIPPIE!!!!). We may head to Puebla tomorrow morning for a Rugby Tournament….but that is yet to be officially determined. Hope everyone out there has a fantastic weekend!

Yeah, I know.

I’ve been MIA. Just lots of things going on and not much desire to write much. You know, my typical “return to Mexico” feelings.

::::::::::::GOODBYE BO::::::::::::

A couple things, first, and belated I know, is a farewell to Bo. A cyber buddy made this layout, and I really wanted to share with everyone. You can visit her blog at http://jencaputo.typepad.com/jen_caputo/



It was a bummer losing that game on Saturday, but what can you do. We went to Caliente with a few friends to watch it – intense, but just bumming’ just the same.

::::::::::::WEEKEND FUN::::::::::::

Monday was Revolution Day here, so we didn’t have to work, which is always cool.
So Sunday we headed to Valle de Bravo to visit our friend Ofo & Juan – Ofo’s family has a fantabulous condo, smack dab next to this beautiful waterfall. I didn’t want to go at first, because I had about a million things to do, but I thought it would be a good chance for me to actually get away and relax a little bit – so we did, and I’m glad we did. It was just kinda fun to drink, cook and laugh with friends. We left early in the morning on Monday to get back so I could take care of things, but it was a relaxing day nonetheless.

::::::::::::REPATRIATION::::::::::::

The interviews I had while in the US went very well – I have been offered an informal position, but am kind of waiting on the other one so I can compare jobs and take the best overall offer. I think I’d be happy in either position, and I know that I could succeed and have potential to move up in the company, it all kind of depends on the big picture – salary, benefits, 401K, etc. Since you silly peeps in the US don’t work Thursday & Friday, I’ll have to wait until next week to get those details.

Also relayed to me was the potential of me coming back earlier than I expected. I was planning on Mid Feburary, but it looks like some people maybe wanting me back in January. That is going to increase my workload significantly, but I think I can probably swing it if I keep pretty busy at work, come in on weekends, and stay until 10:00PM each night. No problem man. Easy breezy lemon squeezy.

::::::::::::PINCHE CARRO ISSUES::::::::::::

I love my little car. But its such a PITA when I don’t have it. I dropped it off last night at the Taller (mechanic shop) for a new brake job. Hopefully it will be done sometime today so I can use it tomorrow. Oh yeah, and just so you know, the sound of metal scrapping across metal on your brakes is never a good sound. And to me, its like nails on chalkboards. And I always feel like that means the brakes are going to give out at any second. Not a good thing to be thinking about as your going 85mph down a mountain.

So, because of my car issues I have to car pool to Mexico City today, and probably take a bus back. Ick. I’m so not loving public transportation. I’d rather be alone in my car. Anyway, hopefully its done today, so Keith can pick it up and I can have it for tomorrow morning.

Speaking of tomorrow….

::::::::::::HAPPY TURKEY DAY::::::::::::

Keith and I picked up a bird Monday afternoon (no, not a live one, it’s dead and frozen just like in the US), and will be hosting a small Thanksgiving dinner at our home. I feel kind of bad making Keith stay home and cook all day, but I have to go to this stinking class all week and I won’t be home until late. I think I may leave a few hours early though – to beat traffic in DF and to try to make it home before all the turkey is gone!

Anyway, everyone have a fun and safe and stuffed Thanksgiving – and make sure to be thankful for all the blessings you have in your life! I know I’ll be counting the kagillion that I have :)

La Quimera and Dia de los Muertos buys....

Here’s some interesting tid bits of information I finally figured out about this upcoming holiday that has been baffling me for the past few weeks. To see a lots of information on the subject, peruse through http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/.

In so many words, Dia de los Muertos is an adapted tradition from a month long celebration began by the Aztecs. Skulls were used to honor the dead because they symbolized not only death, but rebirth as well. And, well, they had a plentiful collection laying around because they kept them as trophies after killing people :o)

From what I’ve garnered so far, there are two common ways to celebrate this holiday in Mexico. One (which is more common in the pueblitas outside of the city limits) is to go to the cemetery to party all day and to decorate the grave site in marigolds, candles, and place offerings of items that person liked, such as toys, tequila, favorite foods, cigarettes, etc. The purpose behind that is that it was believed (in Aztec times, not sure about now-a-days) that the loved ones came back to visit during this time.

More in the metropolitan areas, people go to the gravesites less to celebrate and more frequently set up an altar in their home, sometimes dedicating entire rooms to the altar – which are frequently adorned with sugar or chocolate chalacas (skulls), pictures of the venerated deceased, candles, flowers, favorite foods, and the like.

Oh, I should mention Dia de los Muertos is a national holiday, and yes, we do have the day off.

From what I understand (based on many things, including that book I read a month or so ago about the Four Agreements) is that the natives believed that dying doesn’t signify the end of life, just the ending of a dream in which (in death) they become truly awake. It’s not so far from our concept of heaven, I suppose, but the big difference is they didn’t fear death, they embraced it. Or so we assume….

In my opinion, I’ve always seen skeletons as kind of creepy and scary. And the amount of adoration of these objects here did seem a little sacrilegious – I mean, putting a skeleton on an altar?? You might as well throw a creepy scary clown up there & a murderous doll that comes to life after dark, too. And, the whole coming back to visit thing is kinda creepy to me, but the base of the tradition is rooted in a culture that viewed death completely different than I do. I believe we die, our souls are ascended into some concept of heaven and we spend an eternity there…..but still despite that comforting fate my mind has been molded by society to fear death, the unknown, and scary things like ghosts and skeletons.

The Spaniards when they came to Mexico thought the same thing….Although I must admit, I would have thought it to be much creepier if they were using actual human skulls too! So they tried to extinguish the celebration – and instead of the original month long celebration it is now one or two days, and its been moved from the 9th Aztec month (August, ish?) to now coincide with the Catholic celebration of All Saint’s and All Soul’s day.

::::::::::::::END OF HISTORY LESSON:::::::::::::::::

So, along with living in a new culture comes appreciation and adaptation of my views to incorporate new things I’ve learned. I must admit, even thought shock of seeing zillions of skeletons initially shocked me, I’ve grown to like them – the wild colors and creative decoration certainly can be appreciated as art – and some of the skeletons just are down right cute! Its hard to be afraid of a dancing skeleton wearing a mariachi hat and holding a guitar, you know?

I’ve even purchased a couple items for the celebration, including a fabulous Pop Up altar ready for use in our home – all we have to do is write the name of our dead we would like to honor and that’s it! It even comes complete with lit candles, skeletons, food and tequila! Best of all – I found it at Wal-Mart! Nothing like getting a good dose of the local cultural from Wally World!

As Keith and I were walking around La Quimera last night (the art festival in Metepec’s Centro) we saw rows upon rows of potential offerings. I picked up a couple sugar cube skulls – no chocolate ones since I ordered some from a guy at work that makes them with his family every year. Also saw other incredibly ornate skulls, but we passed on buying those.

Sugar cube type skull-itos - only about 1 1/2" high

Crazy decorated ones - more about 4" high - not sure what the heck they were made out of....

There were also little sculptures of fruit and veggies created out of paste from the pumpkin seed, and also figurines you could buy that represented careers the dead had while living or hobbies. They had a skeleton teacher and student, one drinking a beer with his dog close by, doctors operating and taking X-Rays, oh yeah, AND (get ready for this) strippers. HA! So if the dearly beloved had a career as a pole dancer, you could get a figurine to represent her as well! See if you can find her in the picture below.

If you click on the pic, you can see better the detail of the intricately placed pole, and the mat that reads "Table Dance!". ¡AWESOME!

I also purchased some local art particular to Metepec. Its an Arbol de Vida – which typically depicts scenes from the bible – but in this case is adorned with things to celebrate Dia de los Muertos. Too cute! And also a clay skull to hold a candle, for our home altar, of course! I just love the detail and colors!

Last but not least, and completely unrelated to Dia de los Muertos, I purchased a nice wool serape. I’ve been trying to find one that isn’t hella big on me, but that looks nice and has a pretty natural color – and I lucked out and found one for $110 pesos! What a steal! Now I can be fashionable and warm in my office! I probably should have picked up some wool socks to keep my ankles warm, too, now that I think about it……

Happy Hump Day - 8 days and counting

Oh my aching body. After a week (or so) hiatus, I finally made my way back to the gym and regular exercise yesterday. I think I may have overdone it. My legs kill me – but a good hurt, you know? And instead of wussing out on exercise today because I was sore, I still managed to snag 45 minutes of yoga. Good deal :) I’m kind of proud of myself!

Other good news - I finally switched to Blogger Beta - not sure what benefits I'll get from it, but we'll see whats up.

8 more days till I get to see my Patrick O'Brien!!!!!

So, the festivities over the weekend were fun. Friday I did get to buy and wear my Mexican Sombrero with Viva Mexico Cabrones in the brim, and we also managed to miss the grito that night because we were all too drunk to go back to downtown to here it. I was more sloshed than I have been in a while – so much so that when our worldly group of friends started talking Politics (there were French, English, Mexican, and of course Americans) I just got all emotional and riled up about Bush and the world’s perception of us and I was crying. No, I was BAWLING. That’s when Keith knew it was time to go home. I think the reason I was so worked up over everything is earlier in the day Keith and I went to see the movie The Twin Towers – with Nicolas Cage. Not usually a big fan of him, but really liked the movie, even if I started tearing up at the beginning and was full out bawling at the end. Hey man, even Keith cried at parts.

Anyway, We had a good time though – we got to meet Fidel, the chocolate lab of Kate & Marco, Kate cooked some killer burgers and salad, and their house is this beautiful rustic Mexican home, bigger than ours, prettier, and of course cheaper. *sigh* why does everyone here take advantage of Americans?

Saturday I was a trooper and despite my hangover we still went with the Belmont Family to Valle de Bravo and Colorines to see their family. Really loved Valle, even though there were too many people there. It was just a good atmosphere and relaxed. Oh, and LOTS of loaded (money wise) people running around. Kind of reminded me of Aspen – with all the little shops and rich folk. Except with Mexicans.

After stopping in Valle we went to the next pueblo over of Colorines, where Fernando’s grandparents & great grandma live. We walked around a bit and called it a night pretty early……the next morning we had a great breakfast with the whole fam damily, and then headed back home so we could still have a chance to watch some football…..We got some great pics – I’ll have to upload some soon.

Monday brought us back to the daily grind, not much new has happened since. Oh yeah, not much other than a heart attack from the Mexican government telling me I owe them over $30,000 pesos by the 29th! It was a tax mix up though, and they are reworking the figures, of which I will not be responsible for one red peso – its one of the things Holcim US picks up, thankfully.

Other than that, I’m preparing to have a super fall scrap-a-thon this weekend, which should be fun, maybe get a game of tennis in……who knows. Have a great day!