Time Flies

We have been busy, nonstop, for about a month now. I can't say I'm loving it. We are used to a slower pace. That's why we like living in the country and off one income. There are never many engagements and Lee makes the money and I take care of things at home. So, when 5 o'clock rolls around, we can sit on the swing and have a cold drink and chat. That just like we like it.

We got off course about two weeks ago getting ready for a big party. About the time I got everything back to normal, Aunt Flo showed up. That bitch! So I got tied up tending to her and the house went back to hell. It hasn't rained much in the past two weeks, so I was tickled to death when it began to rain yesterday. We got two nice showers. My rain buckets filled up, so I can stop hauling water from the tap out to my flowers on the porch and give the sprinklers a rest. My plants are spoiled to chlorine-free water. It's been so hot and they are suffering because they had a rough time with five male dogs hanging out here over the weekend of the 4th. Somebody would pee on an azalea, then everybody else would have to mark it. Vicious cycle. And in the end, I am frantically trying to save two badly piss burned azaleas and a hydrangea. I'm seeing some new growth on the hydrangea, but the azaleas look pitiful.

Oh, and the red bud I've been nursing for 2+ years. Gone. Ruby and Coleman were playing so hard that they took it out. Lee and I saw them do it, looked at each other, shrugged, then he said, "I'm getting a smoke tree." I'm relieved. If I don't dig up the roots on the little bastard, it will torment me for years to come. It keeps getting wiped out and it keeps coming back, very unstable and in need of lots of tlc. Death to the red bud. I have dumped gallons upon gallons of miracle gro on that thing, and my results have never been impressive. Good riddance.

Mindy has been so demanding here lately. Spoiled is what she is. I know she can't be feeling great, and that's why I let her boss me around. She keeps eating her share of food and everyone else's. I don't know if she remembers being fed. She has her treat, then breakfast. Around 4 o'clock she begins following me around stomping her front feet. Afraid I'll step on her, cause I'm usually getting dinner started, I'll go ahead and feed her. Then, her daddy comes home, which is when she is supposed to be fed and she wants her dinner again. She has gained some weightt. It's so bad for her. She already has a difficult time walking around because her little legs are so short and seem to be less stiff and more rubbery these days. When she wakes up for her hours of napping, she toboggans off her over-sized dog bed and slides around on the bamboo floor. She always gives herself a good shake which leaves her spread eagle on her tummy. The she slips and slides until she makes it to the kitchen floor, which has some grip to it. She exhausts me.

We have found our honeymoon destination. Puerto Vallarta! The Barcelo resort, formerly the La Jolla de Mismaloya. We had a difficult time deciding because it's our first big trip that we've booked and paid for ourselves. I made a list of 11 destinations we were interested in. After devising a pro/con list based on all-inclusive price, safety, beach, bar, and food, we arrived at 4 possible destinations. Then, it just really came down to hotel to pool ration. Some of these places had beautiful grounds and a huge hotel, but the pool was tiny in comparison. Then, all I could think about is how nice that swim up bar looked and how it would keep it's patrons from having to get out of the pool. All those people from all those rooms in that pool that looked to small for the hotel. That's why the other places got crossed off the list. Barcelo won because back in the spring we saw it on the Travel Channels top 10 Mexican Beach Resorts, or something like that. It was made famous by the movie, Night of the Iguana. It looks terribly romantic with it's jungle back-drop. We have transferred funds from our saving to checking to purchase the tickets. We have bought our new traveling abroad luggage. It should arrive tomorrow. We have just a little over an hour to cross Houston's airport and board our flight to Mexico. Checking baggage would make things impossible. We bought back packs. They actually look like duffel bags. They are made by Osprey. They are light weight, have a ventilation system, alloy frame, cushioned harness and hip belts, and compression straps. Yes, we studied up. Matter of fact, we spent 2 days on our back pack research before making a decision. Crap, we may have spent more time making this decision than on the trip itself. But we plan to use them for future globe hopping adventures.

Now to find Lee some swim trunks, that he likes.