Measure of a Man Part Two

Well, Friday will mark a year that Steve has been gone.  It has been a very tough year.  It is very strange when you get too this point, I’ve been here before with my mom and sister.  It seems like yesterday that we were walking, hand in hand down the Malecon,  yet, it seems like an eternity since I’ve seen him.  I still wait for him to come back and hope that this has all been a big fat joke but I know he won’t and I know it isn’t. 

Everyday I’m asked how I am doing.  It was the right decision to come back and stay in La Paz. Our friends here have been phenomenal, always checking up and including me in their plans.  It is difficult, looking around a dinner table and seeing three couples and me.  But, even that is getting easier.    I talk to Steve every day, many days I still cry and there are those days I don’t.  

My card making has kept me very busy,  and Molly (the dog) has been a true blessing. 

So, when you sit down to dinner on Friday night and you have your glass of wine or margarita in hand, please raise it for Steve, I know I will.

Thank you everyone for helping in this transition. 

Happy Birthday to Marc!

Okay, I know I'm the mom but you all have to agree that this is one good looking guy! Marc turns 42 years old today!  Funny how your kids grow up in a blink of an eye. Before you realize it you are finished with diapers, potty training, sleep-overs, and school.  One thing is for certain, a parent never stops worrying about and loving their children.  It is a wonderful place to be when your baby talks to you with the concern of a parent.  That is when you know you have done a decent job and you can sit back and relax and grow old in peace, all is well.  

I love you Marc! Happy Birthday

Molly Is Here To Stay

Back and forth, back and forth I went on Molly.  One day I was giving her back the next I was keeping her.  I've had Molly for four whole days and yesterday was the turning point.  She must have heard me speaking on the phone, complaining about how she eats, I have to clean up her poop, and she wouldn't bark at anything but birds!  I'd look at her and say "Molly, what am I getting out of this?" 
Molly doesn't have one favorite piece of furniture, she spends equal amounts of time sleeping on all of the chairs!
Day before yesterday I was heading out for the evening with friends and decided to leave Molly in the house.  She wasn't too happy but settled down after a few minutes.  About five minutes went by while I was waiting for my ride and I decided to peek in the window to see which chair Molly was sleeping in.  Ha!  Molly wasn't sleeping at all, in fact, she had used the chair I left by the table, climbed up and was walking all over my computer on top of the table!  That was not good!  She was going back for sure!
I made her go outside where she spent the evening until I returned.  When I did get back home she was so sorry and so glad to see me that I thought "how can I make her go back?"  And then, the next morning the door bell rings and Molly barked!  Real barks, not sissy dog barks!  That is when I decided that Molly was staying.   Molly and I are a pair now, she finally has a home that she can protect and call her own and I have a companion, AND a watch dog.  I still have to shovel poop but she loves me, I know she does.

Good Golly Miss Molly!

Meet Molly, not sure if she has a last name, but it may turn out to be Hall!  No one is quite sure how old Molly is, the concensus is she is somewhere between two and three years old.  Molly is a Schnauzer, has silver gray coloring with very light brown eyes and a tail that never stops wagging.  Molly also has this "thing" she does with her leg, putting it up in the air as though she is asking for something but other than affection I haven't figured out what that can be.  I think she will be a good walking buddy and I'm pretty happy she likes my cooking, although, how hard is kibble in a bowl! 
I've committed to keeping her for a week, that should be enough time for me to fall in love with her. A week should also give her enough time to run and high tail it away from me like Willie did! 

Remember Willie? Well, he left the nest

I called and called, I think you know the rest

Crazy dog, he had it all

I thought he loved that yellow, rubber ball

But even that he left behind

He didn’t even seem to mind

Now I’m left with food, treats and toys

I don’t know about those fickle, fickle boys!


Okay, you made it thru that, the rest is easy!
After Willie ran away, I decided that he was just too much dog for me so he has become a ward of the La Paz Dog Whisperer and tomorrow I will meet dog number two, Molly. 

Molly is a Schnauzer, I think she is two years old and a dear.  We shall see. 

I shall keep you posted on the dog thing, everything else is great! La Paz is beautiful as always and today was a sleeveless day! 

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Willie Saves The Day

Let me start out by saying that Willie has become very possesive of me and our home!  He doesn't seem to like men, especially Mexican men. 
Now, for the story:  Judy R. told me time and again "be careful with those metal doors you have in the kitchen because if they close on you they lock and you can't get back in."  Well, that is exactly what happened just l/2 hour ago!  I went out to the laundry room to hang up clothes and "WHOP" the door closed!  My first thought was "no problem, the guy that made the doors said they wouldn't lock on me". After I finished hanging the clothes I went to re-enter the house and......you got it.......door was locked! My heart started pounding and I started to get that claustrophobic feeling one gets just before they know there is no escape!  As Victoria would say, I thought "what the f---k"!  Then I started to think rationally about my options:
1) The Alamo guys were next door, but Willie won't allow anyone in the yard. By the way, where is Willie?
2)  I could call someone, but wait, I didn't have my cell phone.
3)  I could wait until someone missed me but that wouldn't be until  tomorrow, at the earliest, when Crit comes at 11:00 a.m. but when I don't answer the door she will figure I forgot and she will leave!
4)  I could use the hidden key, but wait, there is NO hidden key!
5)  I could break the window between the laundry room and the kitchen but there are bars on the window to keep people out!  Maybe if I broke the glass, my arm would be long enough to reach the handle on the door. Nope, arm isn't quite long enough.
6)  Okay, think Ana, think.
A Plan: 
1)  Get some rope ready.
2)  Call Willie and make lots of noise so he will come running.
3)  Tie Willie up and yell for the car wash kids to come and walk into my house and open the door for me.
Well: 

1) I made a lot of racket and Willie, bless his heart, came running.
2) I had a nice length of rope that Christina had left for me to tie a tarp onto her car when it gets here.
3) First, I tied Willie up real close to the outside bars of the laundry room, I knew he would have a fit if he saw one of the Mexican kids from next door in our yard so I tied and held him real close to the bars.
4) Next, I yelled my fool head off and finally one of the kids climbs up the wall and says "whatsup"?
    I asked him if he could climb over the wall and into the house and open the door for me, which he
    did.
5)  Just as I suspected, I thought Willie was going to have a heart attack watching this kid climb over the wall!  Poor Willie!  Oh wait, poor me, I'm the one locked up!

You know what?  Willie came when I called, he stood real close to the bars so I could tie a length of rope on him and he let me be rescued!  He barked because he was supposed to bark, he just wanted them to know that he's vicious! It would have been easier to be rescued without the stress of thinking he might maul someone to death, but we did the best we could and it worked out.
Thank you Willie!  Thank you Mexican kid next door!

New Man In My Life

I know, I know, its only been eight months but I couldn't stand the lonliness!  Meet Willie, he isn't as tall as Steve but seems as gentle and loving.  Willie is here on a trial basis, I know nothing about dogs but hopefully we will live happily ever after. 

Home Again, Home Again!

As Victoria and I pack up the car and get ready to head South I can't help but think the first thing I am going to do when I walk in the house is look to my left and see if  Steve is sitting in his big ole Papa chair grinning that special grin.  If I do, I think I will have died and gone to heaven or maybe I will finally wake up from a really bad dream. 
 
The No Worries is clean, spiffed up and listed with a broker, all is well on that front. 

I look forward to a friend-filled year ahead! 

Sarah and Nate Get Married

Port Townsend, Washington, September 3, 2011 a beautiful day for a wedding.  This was probably the quickest wedding I've ever been to, but it was beautiful.  We ate, we drank, we danced, we met people we knew only by name.  What a great day!  These are only the pictures I took, I understand the photographer took over 1000!  Perhaps Nate and Sarah will share and I can do something with those later.

Contratulations Sarah and Nate!

Summer Travels

They say (not sure who) that time heals all wounds.  I'm not sure about that, but life definitely goes on if you want it to or not.  I've spent the last month in Sedona with Mark, Christina and my grandsons, Rylan and Keenan.  I found a photo of the three of us and thought it was time for another.  These little boys are so full of life and energy there is money to be made in bottling it! 

Keenan, Ana, Rylan 2008

Rylan, Ana, Keenan 2011

Next week, Seattle! 

What Do I Write About?

I find the easiest way to catch up on all the blogs out in blog land is to come to the "Casa Ana" blog to see who has updated their blog and then I just click away until I am caught up.  I'm sure you've all noticed that my "Casa Ana" blog sits alone and unattended.  Nothing seems right about it, the description is of two people, the parties and social functions they attend, the colors so bright and cheerful.  I've sat a few times strumming my fingers on the table trying to come up with something interesting to write, but nothing comes.  Another problem is that by adding new posts, my "Measure of a Man" moves farther and farther down until finally it will disappear and become a thing of the past and, for now, I'm just not ready for that.

So hang in there with me, I am making progress thanks to my wonderful bio-family and friend family. Thanks to David and Michael for doing chores on No Worries which I hope to get sold this fall. And, thanks to Bernd for taking on the challenge of selling No Worries for me.

Measure of a Man

In the past few years I have gone to wakes and funerals and raised my glass in a toast to family members as well as friends who have passed away. But, now, every time I raise my glass to Steve it is so very different than  all of those other times. How can I raise my glass in a toast to a man who meant so much to me and brings to mind so many memories? A toast seems so quick and inadequate. When my glass goes up, I remember in a flash everything Steve was and the wonderful things he did just like they say “your life will flash before your eyes.” By toasting Steve I feel that I am admitting that he is gone forever and that I will never see him again.

You all knew Steve and the kind, photo taking, beer and food loving, old joke telling guy that I knew. But, I knew someone you all could never know. I knew the Steve that encouraged me to do the things I never would have, a Steve that challenged me to try very different things; from eating slimy snails to rafting the Rogue River rapids and even sailing the South Pacific for two years, a Steve that eased me out of my shyness and into pitching products with a microphone strapped to my head! You never met the Steve that was embarrassed that his legs were too white to walk around La Paz with shorts on, or the Steve that was too shy to speak Spanish. I knew a Steve that was gentle and caring and would go off running for a glass of ice water when I was lying with my face to the bathroom floor tiles after a chemo treatment, the Steve that never once pawned me off on others who offered to “help”.

Surely I will run out of tears for this man that I spent 40 of the best years of my life with, the man that never refused me a hug, a whistle or a wink. Steve was the man I sat across the table from, slept, worked, played, and laughed with for practically twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I have cried tears until I thought I couldn’t possibly cry any more but I’m sure there are many more yet to come. I need you all to tell me the stories you remember of Steve and please, please never be afraid to mention his name because you think it might make me cry. Right now the tears and funny stories, as well as the toasts are exactly what I need.

Crit took our family and friends out to sea to return part of Steve to the waters that he so loved. It was a very touching and wonderful moment when we sent both Steve and Dan off together to play with the dolphins along with some of the beautiful red Bouganvillia flower petals that Steve nurtured from our courtyard in La Paz.

Rest in Peace, Steve. I will never forget our wonderful life together.

Ana

Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy Birthday to my 89 year old Papa with hardly a wrinkle on his skin to show for it!  Your daughters love you so very much! 

Carnaval 2011!!!

We've never been to a Carnaval in New Orleans or any place else, for that matter.  We've now been to our second Carnaval in La Paz. In the past we never got to see the burning of "the bad humor" dude.  The bad humor guy stands for everything bad and we especially liked seeing him burn this year!  We enjoyed the parades, or is it the friends and parties that take place because of the parade?   We enjoyed the churros, again, or is it seeing the faces of friends who taste them for the first time? Steve especially liked that they had a Negra Modelo Chope booth this year, a very big 24 oz cup for $25.00 (pesos)!  We enjoyed some of the entertainment and were amazed that we forgot to take our earplugs, AGAIN!  But, the costumes, the general people watching and the faces of the little kids are the best.  Here is a photo recap of this year's Carnaval:

El Hombre de Mal Humor

One Of The Nicer Parade Floats

Crit Buying Churros

Steve With His Big Ole Cup of Chope



Not Enjoying This Entertainment!

The Crowds.........

In All Directions

Kids Even Hung Out In Trees So They Could See

Bill Avoiding This Gal's Eyes!

Wanted To Buy Something From These Folks, But Didn't Have The Heart To Walke Them!

The Happy Prize Goes To This Little Boy

After It's Over. All That's Left Are Tired Kids and..........

The Clean Up of Those Darned Confetti Eggs.

Playa Azul Igloos

Steve's video says it all, a great time was had by all!

Kim and Mike Visit 2011

Wow, what a whirlwind of a visit we had with Kim and Mike this year.  Kim and Mike arrived on a Sunday evening and left the following Friday!  Of course we take what we get but there were definite tears this year saying our goodbyes.  It wouldn't be a proper visit without the box of See's Chocolates which were delicious, as usual, a real treat.



There Was The Usual Eating and Drinking



Huachinango, Yum

There Was Fishing



There Was Dancing



There Was Rummi Kub

There Was A Lot of Loving



And, Sadly, Hasta Luego