The Week in Review

I've been getting a lot of "flack" from fans of my blog about not posting. I have no real excuse but I can assure you that I have working every day as well as going out almost every night. Life in Vallarta is interesting, challenging and always changing. The noises I hear at night through my bedroom window would probably cause most of you to head to the airport and catch the next plane back to civilization. I just smile, adjust my ear plugs and try to go back to sleep.

Lately, I've heard coconuts falling. It actually sounds like someone on the roof is tossing bombs over the side which crash through the trees before slamming onto Arturo's patio below my window. The other night, he and a friend woke me up trying to wrestle the coconuts off the patio and onto a huge, noisy, plastic tarp so the friend could haul them away. Did I mention this occurred at 1AM? It's difficult to get angry with Arturo. He is our landlord and incredibly handsome. He thinks Colleen and I are the most beautiful women in Vallarta. Oh, and rich too since we're always working. Too bad he plays for the "other team"!

And then there is the "new" dog in the neighbourhood. He must be very big because he is very loud. And he always starts his barking AFTER 11PM, like some kind of weird, inverted noise by-law. One night last week, at approximately midnight, I threw my jean jacket over my PJs and headed outside with a flashlight to investigate. There is a condo building way up on top of the hill directly east of our house. This poor dog was out on the balcony, whimpering, barking and pawing at the glass doors. If I can ever figure out a way to get up there, those dog owners better watch out! Thank the Goddess I know how to say "SHUT UP" in both English and Spanish.

I can't remember what I did on Monday other than work my usual eight hour day. With any luck, I came home and went to bed early. On Tuesday, we had our usual staff meeting at 9AM and I worked until 6:30PM, changed and went across the street to Lucy's CuCuCabana. Lucy's husband Gil was holding a book signing party for his two books, both of which I already own, already signed by Gil last year and the year before. However, a party is a party and they were serving free margaritas! I said hi to Gil and headed to the back of the store where I could see Lucy waving a ladle at me over a huge jug of already mixed margaritas. My friends Martin and Missy arrived shortly thereafter, as well as David and Nancy. We all bought something in the store which is the least we could do considering all the margaritas we were consuming!

Lucy left to fire up the band and the next thing you know, we had a four piece Norteño band playing live music on the street outside the store! Norteño music is kind of like Mexican polka music since the accordian is the most predominant instrument. These guys were good and very resplendent in the their matching chocolate brown suits and white boots. Besides the accordian player, there was a guitar player, a bass player and a percussionist banging out the beat on a little wooden box strapped to his waist about the size of wallet and two inches thick. These guys were awesome and not one of them was under 50 years old! A couple of Mexican ladies started dancing together on the sidewalk. My friend David knew all the words to one song and was singing to us. The band members were flirting outrageously with all the women passing by them. Ahhh ... Mexico!

We dragged ourselves away from this party and started another across the street at Cafe Frankfurt. We decided we needed to fortify ourselves with German food before commencing the Black Death Mexican Open. It was time for our annual dart tournament, the name of which sprung from Martin's overactive imagination. I think it had more to do with the fact that Cliff kicked Martin's ass playing darts one night last year and Marty wanted a rematch. Anyway, after a scrumptious dinner and more libations (I stuck with tequila, drinking my infamous "Tequila Ceasar"), we made our way to the back corner of the restaurant where Mike hides his dart board.

Cliffie and John squared off against Martin and David. Cliff's team won by ONE throw! What a game! What suspense! *YAWN* We woman sat around and talked while the guys played. Then they decided we all should play and two teams of four players each were formed. It takes a long time to play a game of darts with eight people, especially when you have to wait for people to come back from the washroom and drinks to arrive. After much laughter and good sportsmanlike behaviour, one team was victorious over the other. I can't remember if I was on the winning team or not -- by this point it didn't matter because I was laughing too much. Someone took photos. I hope I get to see them before next year's tourney.

On Wednesday, I worked a full day but I was finally getting caught up on all the merchandise to be marked and felt like I was really accomplishing something. As a result, I actually left work a few minutes early (*gasp*) and took a taxi up to Barcelonas Tapas to meet all the same people from the night before (and then some) for dinner. Bill, the owner, offered us a set price meal (195 pesos) with enough tapas to fill everyone up. Tapas are small, appetizer size dishes, ideal for sharing but there were 15 of us at the table. I was curious to see if we would get enough food. The sunset was outstanding that evening and by 7PM, we were all eating.

We each received a small bowl of shrimp bisque. Then we were all served a small green salad with pear slices and goat cheese. Then the tapas started to arrive. We were served five plates of the same dish so in fact, one dish was shared by approximately three people. We had tuna canneloni, sauteed mushrooms, chicken salad, eggplant and mozzarella with fresh diced tomatoes, beef skewers, garlic shrimp, and probably a few others I've forgotten by now. It was a lot of food. Then there was flan for dessert and ice cream in a biscuit with whipped cream. After the wine, sangria, coffees and liqueurs were consumed, the bill arrived and it was just over $5000 pesos for 15 people. Service was efficient and courteous. We left a 20% tip. The cost came to approximately $35US per person. After eating all those small bites, most of us wanted to walk home to wear off dinner so we strolled, en masse, along the Malecon, enjoying the night air, the sights and each other's company.

Are you tired yet? I'm exhausted just writing this ... I can't imagine how I did all this and got up for work every morning. But Thursday arrived just like any other day and I was at the store before 10AM. Imagine my surprise to find 17 huge boxes had arrived the night before from McAllen, Texas! So much for being caught up ... it was a crazy day and American Thanksgiving as well. I had made tentative plans to meet my friends, Bob and Kathy, at Northern Delights for a turkey dinner at 6PM but with those 17 boxes piled around me, I didn't leave the store until much later and simply walked two doors down to Steve's Bar. There I met Colleen and some of her friends for dinner. I knew from talking to Teri (Steve's better half) that she was expecting a big crowd and was planning to cook 9 turkeys. Dinner, with salad and dessert, was 120 pesos.

I don't know what I was expecting but the meal they served was incredible! Caesar salad with fresh French baguette bread and herbed, garlic, whipped butter to start. Dinner was served on a platter and consisted of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cooked carrots and cranberry sauce. I ate every single thing that Teri cooked but passed on the canned cranberries. I even ate half of my piece of pumpkin pie even though I don't usually like it. It was that good! With two beers, dinner and a tip, my dinner there was $180 pesos or $20CDN.

By now, you are probably picturing me at 200 pounds. I don't know why I'm not getting fat but I'm not! I didn't even go to the gym this week so I don't know what I'm doing right but whatever it is, I'm going to keep on doing it. I think we're up to Friday now. Friday was another hairy day at work but I got a lot accomplished and the boss was smiling at the end of the day. We had a very busy day in the store since we decided to have a sidewalk sale. This always brings people into the store, including actress Jennifer Tilley, who was trying on espadrilles with my friend Karin when I left at 6:30PM. After changing out of my uniform, I freshened my makeup and loosened my hair. I have to wear it tied up or back at work and it always a great feeling to "let my hair down" at the end of a long day and ditch the uniform as well.

I made my way down to the beach to meet friends for drinks at CCs (2 for 1 margaritas for 40 pesos), followed by dinner at Langostino's next door. I think we were 18 at the table. The food was good and the conversation was great! I waddled home around 10PM and tried to get to bed early but I stayed up for a while reading "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" -- a gift from my friend Anna, the editor of the Tribune, Vallarta's weekly English newspaper. This book is a bestseller about grammar. Anna knew I would love it so she had her ex-husband buy it in Canada and bring it down for me as a late birthday present. This book is so funny, I can't put it down! It will no doubt make me even more insufferable (is that possible?) when it comes to your punctuation, grammar and spelling mistakes. LOL

Today was my short day at work (only four hours) and I managed to get two big designers marked so that the models could wear the jewellery this weekend when they are out doing their "style shows" at the various restaurants around town. I think they visit approximately 20 restaurants each night, dressed in Viva's beautiful sarongs and decked out in our fabulous jewellery. Maybe you've seen them when you've been here? Combine that with our sidewalk sale (on again tomorrow), and it was another busy day in the store. Mary Sue asked me to look at a blurb they were using for advertising and I made a few changes to the wording. She liked it so much, she asked me to help her to write her weekly article for the Tribune. So add that to all my other duties at the store plus my busy social life and you'll probably won't get an email from me until sometime in April 2005! LOL

I'll just keep blogging away if that OK with you ... Tonight I went to a party with some friends at a beautiful condo north of Gringo Gulch up near Ay Carrumba Steak House. The hills were so steep, my friend Patricia got vertigo during the taxi ride up there. Finally we arrived at Patrick and Ron's place. Naturally, they live in the Penthouse and the place is immaculately decorated. What is it about gay men that gives them such a great sense of style? I had to laugh as Ron told us about a couple of their friends who were having their place decorated by a "straight guy". He was sure they were going to have to "tweak" the place when the decorator was through. If their home is any indication of their talents, their friends could do a lot worse.

Anyway, the evening was very enjoyable and I met a ton of new people. The food was incredible and the view of the sunset was spectacular. Unfortunately, I ate something that did not agree with me so I had to come home from the party a little bit earlier than planned. I'm not sure really what it was but I am feeling better now that I am at home. Plus, I'm tired. I wonder why? So I will sign off now and crawl into bed for, hopefully, a good night's sleep. I have a brunch date at 10:30AM, followed by plans for a relaxing day on Los Muertos beach, one block from my house. I hope you are spending your Sunday doing something special. Hasta luego!