Fabulous New York

I know many couples take "Babymoons" before the little bundle of joy comes (which we totally plan to do) but I think a "Mommymoon" is also necessary. So my Mommymoon took place in New York a couple weeks ago and it was...fabulous.

I lived in New York for a year as a nanny in Westchester County but hadn't really been back since then. Now the kids are in college so it's been a while. Big changes have taken place since 2003--the World Trade Center Memorial, tables in the middle of Times Square, no Au Bon Pain's at every corner.

World Trade Center Memorial

The first two are great, but no Au Bon Pain's??? I used to love going there for chocolate croissants while I pondered why my employers wanted me to teach their 12 year old daughter how to shave her armpits...was that really in my job description? There were still a few of the cafes, here and there, but I remember them as THE staple food group of my city trips.

New York Pizza, baby!

Besides that disappointment it was a wonderful trip. I wandered up and down 5th Avenue, visited FAO Swartz, went to Times Square for greasy pizza, and mosied through Central Park.



My favorite spot in Central Park



I love Central Park. When I was young and naive, I was sure the man of my dreams would propose to me in Central Park, preferable on one of the little boats.

Considering Honey has spent very little time in New York, that wasn't likely. And his proposal on a pier in San Diego at sunset was way better anyway.

But I digress...so in New York I was able to see family, visit friends, go to the beach on Long Island, have a hotel room all to myself. And I could have dressed up all fancy with some Manolo Blahniks and partied myself to exhaustion until 4 in the morning. It is the city that never sleeps.

But let's face it--I am pregnant, and walking around the city makes me tired, so that partying thing didn't happen. I did bring Junior's chocolate swirl cheesecake back to the hotel room and curled up watching Law and Order. (Carrie Bradshaw might not have appoved, but Miranda would have given me a high five.)

And it was fabulous.

Wow I'm Huge...and I Killed the Bread Monster

Wow, it has been way too long since my last post. Definitely time for some updates.

1. I killed the Bread Monster. Let's face it, we all knew it would happen and personally I am extremely impressed I kept it alive so long...and that I actually made bread from scratch...more than once, even.

2. I am getting huge! I mean, people ask me if I am having twins. Most of my body hasn't changed a bit but my stomach is huge. Huge-huge. I almost smacked the lady handing out the little registry guns at Target yesterday because she made me guess how far along she was. Now, to me she just looked a little chubby so I said 4 months. She was six. Mind you I am just about 5 months and don't just look chubby. I look like I could give birth this summer. Huge. Here are some pictures. Judge for yourself, but unless you are telling me I look fabulous or that I do not in fact look huge, keep your comments to yourself!

3. We spent Memorial Day weekend in Hilton Head. Honey's sister was nice enough to give us lots of old baby toys and goodies. Overall we had a relaxing and easy trip with a little sunburned skin but that was it. We did happen upon this lovely gentleman before actually leaving Fayetteville as we got gas.

Sure you have a restroom, but do I really have to bring my own toilet seat?

Fayetteville is full of characters...most of which cause Honey to carry a gun. And here are some more lovely photos from the trip.

It was VERY windy!

4. I am doing more writing. If you are the type that like to read blogs and articles about health and education you can check me out at:

www.brainhealthcolorado.com
www.e-merging.org/blog
www.ourcoloradonews.com/education/

As you may notice most of these are things I write on the sly for other people. So yes I am actually getting paid to write. I'd make more babysitting, or working at McDonalds, or doing just about anything else, but I am using my English degree at a paying job. And let's face it...no one expects that to happen!

So there you go, you are now all updated on my life. I will do my best to not let time get away from me. Plus I have several upcoming trips that I promise to write all about.

Not to mention more pictures of my ever growing belly!

Best Toy Ever

There is a magical connection between a child and a camera. Cameras, like a smile, break all language barriers.

While traveling in Laos, my friend Casey and I decided that a 5 day treck/2 day kayak trip sounded like fun. The first day, after backpacking for many hours, we made it to the first little village and had time to chill out while the family prepared chicken stew (this is a whole other story that will be told at some point...)

A group of neighborhood children were poking around, checking us out but trying to pretend they weren't. I was writing in my journal and a couple of girls were very interested in watching me write. I then tried to draw pictures like trees, birds, dogs, houses, etc. They would tell me the name of the object in their native language and I would say it in English. Well, if you have ever seen me draw, I can pretty much draw a tree, a bird, a dog, and a house. That is it. And even those barely resemble the actual object.

So drawing brought in a crowd of kids but couldn't keep them so out came the camera. They LOVED it. Here are a few shots:

The kids in Loas wouldn't take the pictures themselves, but they got the greatest kick out of us taking pictures of them and then looking at the photo on the camera screen. They would giggle and giggle. We did this for hours while our chicken was getting slaughtered, plucked, and cooked--sorry, different story.

The magic of the camera appeared again this weekend while visiting Honey's sister and our neices in Hilton Head. During an extremely long wait for a table at a restaurant, we were all getting hungry and cranky. So I pulled out the camera and our 4 year old neice went crazy. She very likely could end up a famous photographer...we'll see in 20 years! 

Here are some of her photos--they have a "face between fingers" theme to them:

You gotta love things that make kids smile.

Fuchia be Damned but Bring on the Strippers

Honey and I have yet to find a new car, so we plopped ourselves into his diesel-sipping truck for the 3 1/2 hour trek down to Hilton Head, SC this weekend. A friend of his watched the house and puppies so we had 3 whole days that didn't involve getting up at 6 am or cleaning up poop. Good times.

We truly had a wonderful time, but there was one thing that kinda bugged me. Hilton Head, for those who haven't been there, is a somewhat unique place--in that it won't let you be very unique. Many beach areas I've visited have a little bit of a live-and-let-live hippy vibe. A WINGS store with crappy souvenirs, a shop selling sarongs, bright happy colors bouncing off the glistening water of the ocean while children's laughter dances on the breeze.

Well in Hilton Head that is strictly not allowed...at least the bright happy colors. On their development website it reads:

"Soft shades of tan, green, rose, and dusky blue are among the only colors allowed because Hilton Head ordinances require everything to blend into the environment instead of looking over-developed. Few streetlights line the roads and no road signs are lit, so if you plan to drive around Hilton Head Island after dark, it would be in your best interests to familiarize yourself with the area beforehand so that you can find what you are looking for."


The Arby's sign, for example, is brown--not red. The Red Roof Inn can't have a red roof. Odd, huh? Everything is muted like the color has slowly drained out of the signs and buildings. Yet, they do have two strip clubs on the island. I am sure they only have non-neon, rose and tan signs to beckon in the hopeful gentleman in from the golf course.

Now I am a big proponent of vibrant joyful colors so the aesthetic kinda bummed me out. Not to mention, the lack of any lights on the signs makes getting gas, finding an ATM, or just driving your drunk husband home in the rain, WAY more difficult than it needs to be. And considering most of the residents of Hilton Head are older, I am amazed any of them can even venture out after dark. It is a death-trap I tell you!


Besides the color thing, Hilton Head really was nice. Everything looked very neat and tidy and the beach was gorgeous. It had tons of running trails, lots of beautiful trees, and fun bars. It rained most of our visit so we didn't do much on the beach but it was beautiful. I especially liked the Spanish Moss.

I look forward to visiting again during the summer when the sun is shining more and really makes the grey and tan buildings sparkle :)

We also checked out Charleston which is gorgeous. We didn't get to spend enough time there so I will definitely have to go back, but I was there long enough to learn they embrace colors. The even have a row of houses celebrating the rainbow.

Rainbow Row

That's my kind of town!

Travel is Like Oxygen

Antigua, Guatemala

Travel is like air to me. Really. If I go too long without it I feel like I start suffocating. Then the only way to feel better is to start planning a trip. I definitely prefer international travel because the places are so different from the US, though the South has often gotten the reputation for being a country of its own. Didn't Reese Witherspoon say you should need a passport to come down here in one of her movies?

This weekend we are headed to Hilton Head, SC to visit Honey's sister and brother. This led me to think about the need for travel and vacations and how some people don't take them. I can't imagine. I save for travel before I save for retirement. And I realize kids, jobs, puppies, etc get in the way but people in the US have the bad rep for not using their vacation days and that makes me a little sick inside. I usually over spend my vacation days and have to take some with no pay. I'm totally okay with that.

Vacations are amazing and (this may sound a tad bit exaggerated, but it's not) vacations are one of the things that makes life worth living. Yes I said it.

This thought process continued and led me to think about my first big trip by myself--Central America. I had been working at a well-known learning center as one of the directors. I had to deal with sales goals, parents, scheduling teachers, organizing all the tutoring, and I hated it. My stomach would start cramping up when I pulled into the parking lot because of the stress. One time I had to go straight into the bathroom when I arrived because I thought I was going to throw up.

So I told them I quit and was moving to Central America. 

Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

At the Mayan ruins in Honduras

I didn't really move there but I did spend about 3 months traveling around and kinda learning Spanish. I explored, rode chicken buses, stayed at hostels, learned to scuba dive, met amazing people, lost 10 lbs because of some scary Honduran sickness, tried surfing, learned about the Maya...

Maya women

Bonus: I gained more understanding and awareness about myself than I could have ever working in the US 40 hours a week. The different people, experiences and perspectives you find when you travel are so enriching. 

This trip inspired me later in my career as a teacher to write a book about Guatemala with students and it inspired me to be a better, well-rounded person in every endeavor I take on. So yes it even helped my work. Now even the career minded Americans should be okay with it. Check out this link if you want to see the book.

I am positive I will write about bits of this trip again on this blog at some point, but I will leave you with a few more pictures to enjoy.

Sunset over lake in Guatemala

Huge ceiba tree in Tikal

Temple I in Tikal

Boats to cross a river

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of My Drive Through the US

It takes 3 days to drive from Colorado to North Carolina. 28 hours--ish. Well it took us 6 weeks. Of course, we took some side trips down to Pensacola and then up to Chicago. Along with several weeks hanging out in Tennessee. We drove, and drove, and drove.

This drive was so fun, that I decided to drive back to Denver for the holidays. It is funny how a few weeks of boredom in a new town make your forget how terrible it is to drive across Kansas. So 1900 miles back to Denver and then again back to Fayetteville.

In this time I made note of some peculiarities in our country. Some are awesome, some are just weird, and some suck.

1. For some reason, the state of Missouri hasn't caught on that using numbers for state roads rather than letters, gives more options. Instead you come across signs like this:

Really? Yes, Missouri there is an easier way.

2. St. Louis has the best radio station in the country. You must check out GenX Radio (at least if you are a GenX'er!) Singing along with Tubthumpin, Ace of Base, and Pour Some Sugar on Me, got me through looking at the alphabet soup of signs. If you are into the I Heart Radio app or website, you must add 100.3 GenX radio. You won't regret it.


3. Don't drive through Tennessee with expired license plates...or even kinda expired. In Colorado if your plates are expiring in December (like mine were), you have until the end of January to get your registration done and new stickers (you gotta love a state that is so laid back that they give you 30 days extra). Well in Tennessee, as of December 1st you are a wanted criminal. I was surrounded by 8 cop cars including an undercover and a drug squad car on a deserted county road. Was it the gun in my car? Nope, just my license plates.


4. If you are a banker, move to Columbia, Tennessee. They work from 8:30-3:00. Nice, huh?


5. The state of Kansas sucks. Beyond the obvious fact that it is flat and long and boring, the state of Kansas actually makes you pay to drive through it. (No I am not talking about the speeding ticket I got outside of Hays). The main route through Kansas, and the rest of the middle of the country, is I-40 and hoity-toity Kansas make you pay to drive on it. Randomly in the middle of Topeka you have to pay a toll. Because driving through the state isn't payment enough somehow.