Snowbirds

A couple of days after Cuba:

Dwayne: "I'm freezing! I've been cold all day - just can't warm up."

Me: "Does this mean you're not taking me somewhere hot next winter?"

Dwayne: "No, it means we're leaving in November and coming back in April!"

I'm in!

That's Cuba, Baby!

We're back!

We had a wonderfully romantic time.

We are sun-kissed - actually, I have racoon eyes from my sunglasses.

We missed the children.

We're refreshed and ready to take on the world - as long as I can do it from inside - it's -28C today.

Mortgage Burner and JB were right - it was Cuba! I'll hook up with you guys for your prize.

Here's a quick rundown on what we did and saw...

- We played on the beach.

- We played beach volleyball...every day!

- We biked about a 7km radius of the resort in different directions. I wanted to see as much as I could without going on commercial (crowded) tours.

- We went to the market.

- A gardener cut down a fresh coconut for us to try. Mmmm...

- We paid a horse and buggy driver to take us touring. We had been to town, so wanted him to take us to a school, some farms, tour 'real' Cuba. He didn't speak any English. We are learning Spanish, but our vocabulary is still very limited, so...Dwayne leaned over and asked him to take us to couple of farms. He smiled and nodded. He drove us to town. Where are we going? He stopped outside a building and wanted us to get out. I asked him where we were. "Pharmacy."

Struggling to communicate, words like 'casa' and 'bambino' finally got us to a school and a couple of farms. We had packed one of our suitcases with gifts - school supplies, puzzles, toothbrushes, clothing. It was fun to be able to give them out. Hurricane Ike hit this area pretty hard and there is more need than usual.

- We played watersports, snorkelling, went on a catamaran.

- We got our room upgraded to oceanview when Dwayne called the reception to tell them that his wife had seen a rat (yep, rat) in our room, was standing on the bed and wouldn't sleep in the room anymore. They sent their 'technician' up (read: non-English-speaking man with a small flashlight and a 1X4). That's Cuba, baby!

- The bartenders got a kick out of the white-Canadian-lady who always ordered, "Something good, no alcohol." They insisted it would be much better if I got the 'real thing'.

- I beat Dwayne in chess. This doesn't happen very often, so it is worth mentioning.

- Dwayne says that you can't go to Cuba and not smoke a cigar. I didn't feel the same way, myself. I thought the shot looked like Pinocchio's Pleasure Island. BTW, I confess that I nagged a little. I mean, cigars are simply vile. To my relief, he only had one.

Although it was paradise, it was nice to come home and hold my babies.

Nothin' Like Mama!

Mom was over the other night. She offered to read the children a story before bed. The children and I curled up on the couch to listen.

.

There was something comforting about mom reading to us. She reads to the children, but I usually don't sit in.
.

It made me think of the other times when nobody other than Mama will do.

.

Even late in high school, when I got sick and needed to puke in the middle of the night, I would make as much noise as I could coming up the stairs. That way, Mom would hear me and come rub the back of my neck with a face cloth.

.

I hope my boys are as much of a suck as I was .have that feeling of comfort when they think of their Mama.

A Few Minutes Of Panic...

This is where we're going - in 4 sleeps! Just Dwayne and I.
.
I had a babysitter all lined up - a place where they would have more fun than they do at home. It was lined up, until I got a call this afternoon. Our babysitter's mom passed away unexpectedly. (Please pray for her family)..
.
I panicked. What now?
.
I called a friend and we talked about possible sitters. A wonderful woman from our church who has young grandchildren and the energy to go with them came up in the conversation so I gave her a call.
.
Me: "Hi, it's Amy. We're going to ______ (fill in the blank with our tropical destination) and my babysitter's mother passed away. I was wondering if you might like to babysit for me."
.
Mrs. W: "I'd love to!"
.
Me: *She must not have heard me properly.* "We're going to ______. We'll be gone 9 nights."

Mrs. W: "I'd love to! When are you leaving?"

Me: *meakly* "Sunday."

Mrs. W: "Sounds good."

WHAT? Are you kiddin' me?

After my tearful freakout small panic, I was again in a position where I could breathe properly. Thank you Mrs. W! (And the children are going to love it just as much as the other place!)

Shucks, I almost forgot...I have a small prize for anyone who can correctly guess our vacation destination.

Over The Holidays