More Mexico

Mexico seems so long ago now! We're already jonesing for our next vacation, which needs to be planned.

Due to some bad weather and some danger in Mazatlan, our itinerary changed quite a bit. We ended up with a extra "fun day at sea." While it was "fun," it was fairly cold. The next day we stopped in La Paz. The line for the bus into town was REAAAALY long, so we went back to the ship for a bit. B braved the waterslide while we were waiting...but only once! It was too cold for me, and I hate saltwater pools/waterslides, so I stood by and took a photo.


We liked La Paz. It was windy and pretty cold by Mexico standards (high 60's, low 70's).

The beach was covered with little tiny hermit crabs. They were so small that you couldn't really see them until you looked at the shells for a bit and saw them moving.

We spent an embarrassingly long time watching this bird (an egret?) fishing on the shores of the beach. It was so fascinating to watch it's amazingly good crab-grabbing skills. It was eating crabs that were way bigger than it seemed like it could swallow, and we kept waiting to see if it would choke (do birds choke?).


From La Paz, we headed to Puerto Vallerta. In order to appease us from losing a port stop we had a very long time there. We walked around a little bit and found out that without a taxi it wasn't easy to get past the endless fence around the cruise port. We found a nice taxi driver that took us about an hour and a half into the "jungle." Mexican jungle sure is different than my vision of "jungle." The claim to fame in the jungle outside of Puerto Vallerta is that Predator was filmed there. You drive forever on a narrow, winding, dirt mountain road. First stop was an interesting tequila factory.
Tequila starts out as agave.

We got to try a piece as part of the tour. It was very sweet (think agave nectar).

Then we got to try 5 different kinds of tequila. No pictures of that (I was busy drinking!), but it was delicious. A few of the kinds tasted very creamy. At $35 a bottle, we passed at buying any, but it was a nice tourist stop. From there we headed to the Predator filming location. It was pretty and you could swim in the water if you wanted, but again, it was way too cold. Mountain water isn't pleasant in weather in the high 60's!

From there our cabbie took us to "the most beautiful view in Puerto Vallerta. It didn't disappoint, although the aggressive people at the top selling their crap at "almost free" was a little annoying.


After driving around for hours, we were starving. We had been having a conversation with our cab driver about how much we didn't like the tourist restaurants (why would we come to Mexico and eat at Planet Hollywood or Bubba Gumps?), so we told him to take us to a good local restaurant. We didn't get quite what we were envisioning, but it was good. They made fresh guacamole at our table. B will probably kill me for posting this picture, as I'm pretty sure he didn't know he was in it!

We also enjoyed "small" margaritas. I can't imagine how big the large one would be!

We were in Puerto Vallerta until 10pm, so we watched the sunset on the beach.


Just going back through all of these photos makes me want to be on vacation again. It was so nice to be able to spend time together without the stress of work, chores, endless to-do list, and allergies. It had been a long time since we had true down time together, and it made both of us realize how much we actually really like each other :)

Mexico!

I had good intentions of blogging right when we got back from our cruise. But after 10 hours of traveling (for a short 2 hour flight) to get home, then heading back to work just hours after getting home, I was tired. And there was a mountain of laundry to be tackled (let's be honest, we're still not even close to done with that due to our tiny apartment-sized machine).

We had a good time. We decided while on the trip that cruising has lost it's shine, so our next trip will be land-based (Bora Bora?, Italy?, Tahiti?, Belize?, Turkey?). That didn't deter us from loving 9 days of drinking, reading, eating, and sweet sweet napping.

We enjoyed some great comedians and a couple of shows in the theater. B even took one for the team and volunteered for the game show (he took second).


Our cabin steward was a lovely man that always said hello to us by our first names from Day 1. He also made us some of the most creative towel animals we've had.


Our first stop was Cabo - after "winning" an extra day at sea when it was too rough to get into port. It was still pretty cold, but water-loving B was brave enough to try snorkeling in the 60ish degree water.

While he came out shivering, he reported that there were tons of really cool fish. I took his word for it and stayed on the beach in my hoodie. The locals all had on pants and sweatshirts because of how cold it was.


While he snorkeled, I made friends with a pelican.

This guy let me get within just a couple of feet of him. We don't have pelicans in Oregon, so I have a strange fascination with them.

We did enjoy a nice boat ride around Cabo. The seals were very loud and very stinky!



A work meeting calls. I'll go ahead and publish this for all of you asking about updates, and the rest will come in a few days.

Bon Voyage

Tomorrow morning we're off to the airport for 9 glorious days on a Mexican cruise. Since the cruise wasn't very expensive, we splurged on a balcony cabin. We are both so excited to go on such a long (to us!) vacation! Pictures and updates when we return.

Day of mushiness

Most people celebrate Valentine's Day in some way. We usually celebrate February 12th instead, because that was our first date. This year was our 5th anniversary. We both didn't believe it when we realized it was 5 years already! 5 years since a cute, funny, charming guy met me at Powell's (our huge local bookstore), and walked me to a unique totally vegetarian Chinese restaurant. Apparently I passed the test and warranted more time, so from there we walked to a fun arcade that has all old school video games. He got points (cool and geek) for setting the high score on the Galaga machine. We capped off the day with a walk to a local cupcake shop where he bought me a cupcake and we sat on the sidewalk and ate them. All told, I think it was about 6 hours together!

I was totally smitten, but hesitant since I was still getting my feet wet in the dating world after ending a 4 year relationship. The real test was Valentine's Day, a mere 2 days after our first date. I sucked it up and emailed him to see if he wanted to do something - but no pressure! He was up for it and took me to a non-traditional V-day restaurant that served Korean food. It was certainly new to me, but he was happy to show the way and he showed up with a sweet little box of chocolates for me.

A lot has happened in 5 years - I moved to NY, my dad almost died and I moved home for a bit, B applied to nursing school in NY, B moved to NY, we got engaged and married, we moved back to Oregon, B got sick, B became a nurse, we bought a house, moved a hundred times, and both had a few job switches. There hasn't been any significant period of dullness in our entire relationship. We also had to learn a lot about communicating and having a successful marriage, which isn't always easy.

5 years in, there isn't anyone else I'd rather spend my days with. He makes me laugh all the time, and he makes sure I don't take myself too seriously. He's my perfect compliment. We have very different strengths and weaknesses, and those differences make us strong. We've learned so much about ourselves and each other over the past 5 years. My heart still skips a beat when I see him.

Babe - there isn't anyone I'd rather share my ice cream with, and you know that's a huge compliment since I don't like to share my ice cream with anyone :) I love you!

The rest of the updates

While B had a shiny new job that he was excited about, 3 weeks in we got some awful news. He used to work for that department at a different hospital, and when he left he stayed on-call. He worked one shift while on-call. However, it turns out that either HR or his old boss didn't process the paperwork correctly and didn't record him as on-call, they recorded him as gone. That meant he wasn't an internal candidate, so he wasn't eligible for the job he'd had for 3 weeks. The only option - to re-post the job, and if ANY internal candidate applied he'd be laid off. It was a VERY VERY long week. Thankfully in the end no one applied! However, that was about 3 weeks ago and they STILL haven't officially hired him, which means they are shorting him 30 minutes of pay per day and $3 per hour. They say they are working it out, but it's still unnerving.

I was also one of 6 people chosen for Leadership Development Team at my work. It's a year-long program that involves a 2 day retreat at the coast, a 3 day leadership training, lots of meetings, and a year-long project as a team. The problem is that it's a few hours per week, unfunded (which really means my boss pays for it out of her grant funds). She isn't thrilled to have to do this, but she agreed since she knows this is a good opportunity. The flip side is that she wants to delay the promotion. She's worried about the time commitment of LDT plus adding on the responsibilities associated with the promotion. In the end, she is right and trying to make sure I'm not overwhelmed. I have 2 new employees I'm training, and the promotion will be much easier for me when I have them up and running to take over some of my duties. I'm bummed, but it's a wise decision to delay things. In the meantime my boss is giving me a few of the new duties to get my feet wet and we'll reevaluate the situation in the summer.

As for the birth control (KT, I knew you'd see that...and my fingers are still crossed for you!), I was just tired of the hormones. I've battle bad skin for years, and I was noticing that my skin was best the "off" week. When the day came to start the next month, I decided I really didn't want to use birth control anymore. I talked it over with B, and he was supportive of my decision. We're not trying to have a baby. We decided about a year ago we'd decide one way or the other when I turn 30 (late June). We're both still on the fence. Not the 100% no that we used to be, but still not close to deciding yes. For now, I've learned a ton from the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (highly recommend it), and I'm enjoying being hormone free. So far my body seems to be doing just fine. It's strange after 12 years to not take a pill each day (or put in the new ring - Nuva Ring is great if you're using hormonal BC). No plans for baby, but maybe that will change.

Hopefully I'll update before then, but if not, we're off on a Mexican cruise for 9 glorious days at the end of Feb over B's birthday. We couldn't be more excited about 9 days, away from work, alone together. Neither one of us has ever taking a vacation that long with a partner, and I've never taken a vacation that long period! So looking forward to it!

Ch ch ch changes

My how quickly life moves! Since I last blogged about 6 weeks ago:

- We moved...again
- B thought he was getting laid off
- B got to keep his job
- I got a spot on my work's Leadership Development Team
- My work promotion is delayed
- I stopped birth control
- I was supposed to take a trip to California to see a dying relative
- I canceled said trip to California when the relative died the week before I was supposed to go
- I found out the relative left me a very generous amount of money
- My grandma has gone more and more downhill since we moved her

Yes, it has been a very busy 6 weeks, but things are finally settling down. Although we had only moved into our apartment in the city in August, by the time the late fall cold started, we uncovered a very disconcerting moisture issue with the windows. It turned out to be a build issue, so there wasn't much that could be done about it. In the meantime, the wet windows/floors continued. Along with that came mold that was making us both sick. We decided to move, and thankfully they let us out of our lease without a penalty. We just moved last week to a place that's only 3 miles away, but it might as well be 300 miles. We've jumped ship from the trendy Pearl and we're now in an "up and coming" neighborhood. We're now in an old house converted into a triplex. The major perk - the rent is HALF of what we were paying! Additionally, we can both walk to work. So far so good!

More on the other bullets soon. For now, my bed is calling my name.

Finally!

Wednesday night B came home and told me he had heard from his boss at his former job. She wanted him to call her. In a nutshell, they reorganized the department (which spreads across 4 local hospitals/clinics), fired everyone, and made everyone re-apply. After round 1 they had an open position running the clinic at a hospital only a few miles from us. Although some other internal people were applying for the position, she specifically recruited B. The catch - the job closed Thursday (the next day) so he had to apply right away. He decided to do it.

I decided to take a bath shortly after that call. While I was reading a book and relaxing, B was messing around on the internet and I heard him let out a hearty laugh. I cried. It wasn't until that moment that I realized it had been weeks since I'd heard him laugh. S.A.D., being miserable at your job, and family stressors are no joke. Just the mere thought of being out of his job lifted his spirits and allowed him to laugh.

Thursday morning the boss set up a lunch interview with B - and she came to him! Thursday at 5pm she left him a message to call her, and at 5:15 he called her back and was offered the position. He asked for the evening to talk it over with me, even though it was a no-brainer. It's a rare hospital nursing job (9-5:30, days only, and no weekends), and it's back working with patients. Needless to say he accepted early Friday morning. It's now been 3 days and I feel like the fog has been lifted.

I took Friday off to help move my grandma. While it was sad, the overwhelming stench of urine and hearing my mom whisper "she wet the bed again last night" made me realize we were getting her out of a bad situation. My uncle and cousin came to help, and as a team we helped move her to her new place. She may only have a small bedroom and en suite bath to herself, but the house is beautiful. It smelled lovely, the sun was shining, and her new caregivers are so nice. Day 1 they were so patient with her and they were already working with her on some physical therapy for her back. We're all hoping this is a better place for her.

Today (Monday), I had a meeting with my supervisor to go over the results of my 360 review. Although I wasn't worried, it's always nervewracking. We're rated on 16 items on a 1-5 scale, plus there is a section for comments. I suggest 2 people to review me, my supervisor picks 2, and she rates me too. Overall, I got a 4.5 out of 5, which is virtually unheard of (high). She said she was really proud of me, and then proceeded to tell me that one reviewer had actually suggested I be a member of our Leadership Development Team, and yet another suggested I be promoted!! She thought this was a good idea, but she wanted to talk to me about what the promotion would mean. I was SO flattered that one of my reviewers would say I deserve a promotion, and even more flattered that my supervisor agreed. I'm talking with a few people that have made the transition from my current role to the potential new one to see if I'm interested in it, and I'm supposed to get back to her.

So to sum up my past week:
Wednesday: B gets possible job opportunity
Thursday: B gets interviewed and gets job
Friday: B accepts job and we move my grandma into a lovely new place
Monday: High praise from my boss and the offer of a promotion

YES! Insert heavy sigh of relief (and jumping up and down with excitement) here! Finally things are moving in the right direction, and I couldn't be happier.