Last Full Day
This is our last full day here. I've now decided that about 8-10 days is the right length (for me) for a visit down here. Two weeks is too long. With Avery, we need to keep doing things - walks, the pool, SOMETHING - and all I want to do after a period of time is sit around the casa and read. To be clear, that's pretty much all I want to do at first, too, but I find it much easier to force myself to do the things I don't enjoy as much (beach, pool). Yes, I realize how utterly ridiculous it is to be a non-beach and non-pool person and have a house here. It is what it is.
D made a roast for lunch today with some delicious roast potatoes and cauliflower, so we ate well this afternoon. I would imagine there will be a trip to the pool soon, but I'm not going to go. I decided yesterday I was just done with it. Avery loves swimming just as much as at the start, but also likes to play by the side of the pool, getting in and out of the lounge chairs and pretending to get "coins" (aka the stones in the landscaping). I like watching her swim and play, but I'm just done for this visit down here.
Bites
Part of my readiness to be home is the ever increasing number of bites Avery is getting. For some reason, she has way more than anyone else. Each one just makes me worry a little bit more and feel less able to protect her. She is not bothered at all by them, but each new one causes me a little more anxiety. I haven't been worried about her health until one she got yesterday morning. It started out like a normal mosquito-looking bite, then slowly the red spot expanded and started to swell. By the evening, it was swollen enough that you can see it's swell from a profile view of it. I took a few pictures with my iPhone and emailed them to two doctor friends to see if we should take her to the hospital, or if it was safe to wait until morning to see how it did. They both responded the same and said the hospital probably couldn't do anything and that we should give her Benadryl or apply hydrocortisone cream. We applied what we had (some anti itch cream) and it's much better looking this morning, though still red.
Anxiety
I can feel my anxiety levels increasing. I am not sure if it's the knowledge that we're going home or because I'm so ready to be home or something else that hasn't crossed my conscious mind. I took an additional pill last night (an anti-anxiety med in addition to my daily anti-depressant) in an attempt to relieve my nightly jaw clenching. I woke up a lot more refreshed than usual, probably due to getting more sleep since the pill makes me sleepy, as well as lessened clenching.
Anxiety is frustrating for me since I can't really pinpoint the causes. Sometimes I can (too much noise or commotion makes me more on edge, for example), but most of the time I find myself clenching and I haven't been thinking or feeling anything I would consider anxiety causing. It's times like these I start to tell myself all of this is in my head, that I'm being wussy about everything, and there's nothing wrong. But that train of thought gets me no where since I know from experience I cannot will myself out of this. That path only leads to a crash like Nov. 2008.
Another lazy few days
Not much to report. We did have a fire here on the day D landed. As he and I were driving back from the airport, we saw a huge cloud of gray smoke rising from smack dab where our community is located. As we got closer, it seemed it was coming directly from the houses, but once we got close enough to see it, we realized it was the brush on the other side of the golf course that was on fire. The fire trucks were already there (hey! we have a fire department down here - cool!) and the situation seemed to be under control, so we went about our day as if there was no brush fire nearby. All turned out fine, though the smell is still lingering a bit.
We have gone to the pool twice since D arrived. Avery is very, very confident in the water. Too confident. She has no qualms about jumping in or stepping off the steps into deep water. She'll do this with her swim vest on or without it. I've let her sink for a few seconds to demonstrate she needs to be aware when she's not wearing her swim vest, but that does nothing to deter her confidence and enthusiasm in the water. Since she is increasingly against wearing the swim vest, it makes things challenging sometimes.
As usual, Avery went on her walk with Mom this morning. She said she didn't want to go to the beach as they usually do. Instead, Avery ran almost all the way down our side of the community in the direction of the pool, then turned around and was running home when she fell. She skinned up her knee and her elbow, and must have hit her nose, too, since it was red. She's starting to look like a kid from when I was a kid with skinned up knees and dirty feet. She'll let us put neosporin on her knee, but refuses a band aid.
Dinner
I welcomed D on Friday by not wanting to cook dinner, so we headed into town to finally have dinner at the new hotel. The restaurant has gotten rave reviews from other homeowners, so we had been wanting to try it. It was very good. And that hotel is very nice inside. I didn't think it was nearly that quality from the outside, but I really felt like we weren't in Loreto anymore.
Tonight I cooked noodles in alfredo sauce (thanks for the recipe and left over cream, Christie!) and served it with some baked chicken. Tomorrow we'll have roasted beef tenderloin, and then Monday I guess we'll have fajitas or something like that. I got off easy on the cooking this time around since Christie was here, the chef came two nights, and we dined out one night.
Books
I finished Half Broke Horses and am now 36% through Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag. It's a good read so far, though a bit difficult to read in spots. I find I quite like non-fiction memoirs.
Damian
D is at LAX now waiting for his connection. I've decided I'll leave Avery with Mom when I go to pick him up at the airport. We haven't told Avery he's coming so it'll be a fun surprise for her. I must say that I'm really looking forward to his arrival too.
Avery
She just came over to me to ask for "music on the iPod." I said, "OK," and started to navigate to the song on my iPhone, but then she said, "No, for everyone!" and motioned to the two workers in our courtyard who are tending to the plants. She wanted to share her music with them, which was so sweet of her. Of course, I'm not sure how thrilled they are to have to listen to Michael Jackson while they work, so we turned it down low.
Asian-American History
I read various blogs about adoption, which often cover things about transracial and/or international adoption. One of them posted a link to this post on ten things about Asian-American history. I knew some, but most I did not. I was especially shocked at #10, where the perpetrators who killed an Asian-American man in 1982 received NO jail time and a measly $3,000 fine. What? In 1982!?
Medication
I can't really feel that much of a difference with the medication yet. Truly, I didn't expect to, but I always hope it'll be a fast cure. I'm still clenching my jaw something fierce. By the end of the day, my mouth feels all out of whack like I can't close properly. Thankfully, I've had few side effects. It has decreased my appetite a bit, but that is a good thing. The true test is when I get back to Portland since I knew I would have few anxiety issues while we are down here.
Books
I got half way through a book that Mom brought - it was her book club's selection - called Little Bee. I hated it. I got so fed up with it, that I decided to create a shelf on Good Reads called "abandoned" and stick it there. I still wanted to rate it one star, so it also goes under "read" but I'll just have to let that misrepresentation go. Anyway, I recommend you skip that book.
I'm now reading Half Broke Horses, by the same author as The Glass Castle that I liked so much. It's good, but not as good.
Books
I finished The Glass Castle. I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure what book is next, but I've downloaded a few samples to my Kindle, including a book by the same author as The Glass Castle. Mom also brought down a couple of real books that she's finished, so I might try one of those (though the thought of a real book is rather icky to me ... why read a real book when I can read so efficiently on the Kindle?)
Today
It was a lazy day again. We hit the pool in the morning, had lunch, Avery took a long nap, then Mom and Avery went to the beach to make sandcastles. I read all day, including during our trip to the pool.
Avery
A story I keep forgetting to blog: when we were out on the boat, the boat man stopped in a shallow area for us to look over at the fish swimming below. When we started going to another spot nearby, he went rather slowly. At that point, Avery started to sing, "row row row your boat ..." I didn't teach her that song, so she must have learned it in school.
The other cute thing to share is due to me forgetting, once again, to bring a doll of some sort for her to play with (clearly Avery isn't overly into dolls or stuffed animals (yet?) otherwise I wouldn't forget such a thing). Anyway, last time we were down, she used a can of black beans as her baby. This time, she's using the "spider," which is a three-legged bendable mini-tripod you can use for your camera or video camera. She carries it around in her ducky towel and pretends it's a baby. Then she takes it into the courtyard and pretends to put it to sleep, puts the towel over it, tells it she loves it, comes inside and tell us we have to be quiet because the baby is sleeping. See, I wouldn't have stories like this if I remember a real baby doll.
Christie & Henry Leave
We dropped Christie and Henry at the airport this afternoon after a lazy morning in the casa. Before their flight, we hit a nice restaurant for lunch in town after finding the place I intended to take them is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Avery has asked several times where Henry and Christie are. Upon getting home from an afternoon walk with Nain, she said, "Christie's still sleeping?" (an odd statement since Christie, to my knowledge, didn't nap much/at all?) I explained that Christie and Henry have gone home to Oregon, but I'm not sure that has fully sunk in yet.
Books
I finished the book I started yesterday, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. It was intensely readable, but I'm finding the more I think about it, the less solid the story feels. I find that, oftentimes, I feel differently about a book or a movie after I've thought about it for a while after reading/seeing it. Regardless, I enjoyed reading it.
I downloaded a sample of The Glass Castle, so that could well be next on my list.
D is coming!
D decided to come down for a visit. He arrives on Friday, but doesn't leave until Thursday since the flight out on Tuesday (no flight on Wednesday) is booked. That means he'll have two days down here without us. It'll be a nice break for him despite the fact that he'll work those days.
We actually chose to schedule the trip over Memorial Day weekend just in case he decided to come down. I'm so happy he's coming. We're not telling Avery that he's coming so it'll be a surprise. She's now asking for him often. This morning I freaked out when there was a tiny caterpillar-like bug in the casa. Mom threw it out at my urging, then Avery got very upset because she wanted to see the bug (more than she already had). Anyway, as she was crying, she was asking for her daddy. I emailed D and he called a bit later so they could chat. If I could get the stupid microphone on the laptop working, that would be so much better, but I'm thankful Avery can see D via Google Chat.
Reading Streak
In hopes that I'll continue with my reading streak, I added the Good Reads widget to the side bar of this blog. It's below the blog list. Reading a good book is effortless for me in that I will typically choose reading a good book over doing most other things. What snags me is that if I hit a book I'm less than thrilled with, I have trouble moving on to a new book and don't want to finish the book I don't like, so I decide I've read all possible good books out there and stop reading. Ridiculous. Anyway, I'm hopeful this latest streak will be aided by the recommendations in Amazon, Kindle, Good Reads, and other sources that compare my tastes to others.
Vy and RHG will undoubtedly be less than shocked that the friend on Good Reads with whom I have most similar tastes thus far (excluding, Lauren, with whom I have only one book in common) is none other than Vy. The next friend with most similar taste is Heather, from whose blog I just read a recommendation for The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. I downloaded and read the sample of it on my Kindle, then quickly purchased it for my next read.
I just finished The Long Walk today. I didn't find the first chapter as difficult to read as Mom did. I have to have an emotional attachment to a character in order to find it difficult to read whatever horrible fate is befalling the character, so the descriptions of torture in The Long Walk were easier to read than the abuse suffered by some of the characters in A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Daddy
Avery is now starting to ask for D at various points in the day. We just chatted via Google Chat, though we can't get the volume to work so we still incur the cost of a phone call, but at least she can see him and it makes more sense to her. On this phone call, she told daddy about the boat trip, the sea lions, the whales (corrected to be dolphins), sunblock and how we wear it to not get burned, and about the meat we ate for lunch. And she told him she loved him several times and that she missed him. So very sweet.
Market Day
Today we hit the farmers market in the morning. We didn't arrive until 10:30 or so. In the past, I've gotten there about 9. I'm not sure if the market vendors have widened the path or if arriving later meant fewer people milling about. Either way, it was easier for me to handle than in the past. We walked the length of the market with the kids running, stopping to dance to music, and generally enjoying themselves while we adults looked around. Christie took many pictures, which I'm looking forward to viewing. We also bought a fair amount of produce, mostly fruits. There seemed a greater quantity and variety of nice looking produce this time around, even compared to the typically better-stocked winter months.
Following the market, we stopped at a few grocery stores and the tortilliaria. I got to watch them making fresh tortillas as I waited for them to bundle my two kilos of flour tortillas hot off the stoves. All five of us enjoyed the purchase on the drive home.
Avery had a difficult time getting to sleep for her nap this afternoon, but 50 minutes after we first started, she finally fell asleep. Once she, then Henry, woke up, we watched a bit of TV and read, then headed off to the pool. This was the first time we've hit the pool in the hot afternoon. The walk there was hot, but the pool felt wonderful and I think I preferred the afternoon visit to a morning one.
Avery insisted on swimming without her swim vest for a period of time. She is nothing if not bold in the water. She has no issue with sinking and letting herself go completely under. I'm always right there with her, but I do let her head dunk so she remembers she's not wearing the vest. Eventually I put it back on her and she proceeded with swimming anywhere in the pool she desired. At one point, a few early 20's people joined us at the normally sparsely populated pool. Avery watched with fascination as the two men play ball in the pool.
Avery also decided to jump into the pool when she saw Christie do it. Henry, normally the physically-bold one of the Avery and Henry pair, is a bit hesitant in the water. Christie brilliantly thought that since Henry enjoys jumping so much, perhaps he'd want to jump into the pool, so she demonstrated for him. That worked in immediately getting Avery to jump into the pool. It took Henry about 30 minutes or so longer to try it, but once he did, he was all over it. By the end of the evening, both kids were jumping in. Avery, I think, needs to learn to push off the side a bit more with her feet. While she doesn't need me to encourage her to jump and does that on her own, once she was airborne, I needed to pull her to me a bit so she wouldn't hit the side.
Christie cooked chicken fajitas for dinner once we were all back and showered off. Delicious.
Toddlers
I must say that having Christie and Henry here this first week has been perfect. Yes, the toddlers bicker about every little thing, but relatively speaking, they're sharing quite well with each other. All in all, it's much easier having a friend here with Avery (not to mention Christie being here to keep Mom and I entertained and fed!) It would be the perfect weekend getaway if only there were direct flights here.
Having Mom here is also so very helpful. I get to sleep in every morning (which means until about 8:30 or so). And, even better, Mom likes the beach! I don't like the beach. Avery loves the beach. Perfect! Mom takes Avery to the beach. I've gone twice - once just for a walk and once with the intent to play in the sand - and I'll go a few more times, but I like to think that'll be special Nain/Avery time.
Temperature
It does get mighty toasty here during the noon-three time period. However, we can go a bulk of the day with no AC. Right now, it's 11 pm, I have the doors and windows open and the fan going. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt and the temperature is just right. Nearing chilly. But nice.
I'm curious as to what it's really like in the July/August months. One of these years, I'll come down just to see.
Books
I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns a few days ago and am now about half way through The Long Walk. Remember how I said I couldn't find The Long Walk on Kindle? Well, it turns out that my Kindle account was set as a UK account. As a result, I've been paying UK prices for books, which is sometimes bad and sometimes good. Once I switched my account to US, the Kindle store's look changed on my Kindle, the best sellers list changed, and the titles available to me changed.
This isn't the first time Amazon has thought my account is a UK account. No matter how many times I set my default address correctly, it often thinks my address is D's brother in London. So weird.
Typical Day
It was another typical day here: pool, nap, beach, dinner, bed. Avery napped about 1.5 hours today, which is about what she usually naps at home. Part of me expects her to nap longer since she's outside and getting so much fresh air, but I guess it's not to be. She thankfully asked to go to bed at 7 tonight, though ultimately didn't fall asleep until about 7:50; it was an easy 50 minutes for me, though, so a thumbs up nighttime routine from me. She also downed 20 oz of milk right before bed. Yes, I let her do it. She ate fairly well at dinner and wanted another glass of milk, so I let her have it. Then she barely went potty before bed. I'm debating whether I should wake her up to go potty before I go to sleep. I've never done that and it's always been fine, but 20 oz is a lot.
Farmers Market
Tomorrow is market day. We're heading off to see it, though I'm not sure how much produce we'll be able to get this time of year. It'll be interested for Mom and Christie to see even if we don't buy anything.
Chef
Mom and I are having Chef Felipe come about during our solo week here (solo meaning sans Christie & Henry). The menu requested is:
Appetizer - brie cheese pitas
First plate - green bean saute
Main plate - shrimp & scallops with Mexican spices
Desserts - flan
I believe we'll have this on Tuesday night, which is the day Christie leaves. That's a good way to ease me into cooking since Christie is doing the bulk of the cooking (which she swears she likes, so who am I to question that. I don't want to call her a liar, nor do I wish to deprive her of pleasure).
Coronado Island
We booked a trip out to the white sand beach on Coronado Island after our property manager mentioned she has a friend who is a boat man. The main source of anxiety for this particular adventure was simply finding the correct place to pay and locating Ernesto, our boat man. After those small tasks were accomplished, I was able to sit back and enjoy the trip.
Avery loved the boat, but really wanted to get off my lap and walk around. Um, hell no! I explained to her that I had to hold her the whole time. She said, "But Nain is standing up." I explained that Nain was a grownup and she was allowed to do that.
It was very cool to see the sea lions barking in their natural habitat, rather than cooped up in the zoo. We also saw lots of dolphins. Unlike in the US, where I think there are laws about boats chasing the dolphins, headed straight towards them a number of times so we could see the pod all around us. Not to worry: no dolphins were hurt by our boat, but I remember being very concerned the first time we were in Mexico and our boat man did this. I guess the dolphins are smart enough to get out of the way. At least, I hope this is always the case.
Once at the white sand beach, Avery and Henry had a great time running around. When we got there, we were the only people on the beach. We found some shark vertebrae and sea shells, buried our legs in the sand, and wandered further into the sea. Avery even swam on her own in the sea, though I was never far from her. The sea was very calm, as is typical for this area. In the past, I've been scared to go out into the sea, but with Avery I have no issues. I guess I'm so focused on her that I forget about my irrational fears and just focus on her enjoyment.
The boat trip back to Loreto from the island was a bit rougher than the trip to the island, but it was still very calm relative to Hawaii (which is, I think, the only other place I've been on a boat in open water). Avery was asleep in my arms within about 30 seconds.
Chef Felipe
The chef also came last night. He came on Mexican time, aka over an hour late, so that threw a wrench into bedtime routine for the kiddos. The meal was delicious, though the salad was a bit vinegary for my tastes. The dessert also had vodka in it, with my permission, and I confirmed that I cannot eat/drink a dessert with alcohol in it.
Crocs
I put my Crocs in the sun to dry and they shrunk by at least a size, if not a size and a half. Bummer. I'm glad I learned the lesson on my own Crocs rather than Avery's.
Sandwich
I must have the only child in the world who eats the crust of the sandwich, but not the middle. I rarely make Avery sandwiches, so I've not observed this behavior before, but Avery ate the crust off her PB&J sandwich at the beach yesterday, but wouldn't eat the middle. Odd.
Beach, swimming, nap, beach with long walk, bed
That subject pretty much sums up the day. This morning, Mom took Avery down to the beach to look for sea shells while I read my book.
When Christie and Henry joined us, we ventured over to the pool for about 2 hours. Avery and Henry had a great time, though it did take Henry a while to warm up to the idea of the pool. By the end of the visit he was getting a bit bolder and then didn't want to leave, so I think our next pool visit will be a lot of fun.
When we got home, Christie made us quesadillas - awesome.
Avery and I napped for much of the afternoon, as did Henry. Christie, meanwhile, baked cookies - awesome.
Christie also cooked dinner - awesome (are you seeing a theme here? I will get my act together and start cooking, too!)
After dinner, we headed down to the beach for a walk. When I suggested it, I'd intended that we just go down to the beach for a bit to look for sea shells. Then we ended up near the hotel, so I figured let's just head for the bridge over the golf course. Once there, we might as well head up to look over the cliff. By then, we might as well just do the whole loop. So it turned into quite a walk out. Both kids built up an appetite and finished their dinners when we got home. I don't know how well Henry went down tonight, but it still took Avery an hour or so to unwind and settle down for bed. However, knock on wood, even when she's not asleep, she rarely cries before bed or a nap now. She mostly just sings or plays with her bibs until eventually drifting off to sleep. Sometimes she'll say she has a booger or needs to go potty, but mostly she just entertains herself until she's suitably tired. That's a nice trend.
Power
Tomorrow the power is out for an expected eight hours. Ouch. It dawned on me late today this means the refrigerator will be off. I think I'll move all the stuff into the freezer before the power goes out and hope for the best.
Mexico
We made it. It's now 10 pm here and I'm pretty much wide awake, despite being exhausted for much of the day. Damn second wind. At least Avery is fast asleep without issue. Here's hoping she sleeps through the night.
The flights went well. Avery and Henry were excellent travelers on both flights. Our arrival at PDX didn't bode well since Avery - for the first time ever, I think - cried at the airport and was quite obstinate as we were making our way to the gate. However, once we got on the plane, it was smooth sailing from there.
Once we got the casa and got the AC running and put on some new clothes, Christie and I left Henry and Avery with Mom while we ran into town to get groceries. This was the task that has been stressing me out for weeks. It shouldn't have. I knew that, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Summary: grocery shopping was easy. This blog is full of insights, isn't it?
I was anxious as to how Mom and Christie would like the casa and the area, after all, it's a long way to travel is this isn't your cup of tea. We haven't had much time to explore yet, but so far so good I think.
Plans
We have few plans, other than to hit the pool and the beach daily. I'm having a chef who does home cooking (he also has a restaurant, I think) come over tomorrow morning* to discuss two meals I'm going to have him make for us during our stay. I forgot to tell Christie this, so if she finds out via this post ... surprise! I hope that's cool with you!
The power is scheduled to be out in the area on Thursday, which means the casa will be very hot with no AC, so we'll use that day to all head into town and do some exploring. This will also be very hot, but better to be hot and doing things than sitting around waiting for AC to kick back on.
I think we'll also try to hit Vista del Mar for lunch. It's a restaurant on the beach about ten minutes drive south of here.
*In classic Mexican style, I don't know if he'll be here at 8 AM or 11 Am or somewhere in between. We'll have to work out what to do if he hasn't shown up in time for us to hit the pool for a bit in the morning.
Books
I'm about 40% through A Thousand Splendid Suns, by the same author as The Kite Runner. It's good, but I liked The Help better.
