Nadia 2nd Update - March 31

It's Wednesday afternoon and the boys and I need to pack for our 10am flight tomorrow morning for Toronto. As I sit here trying to decide what to write about I can barely think over the noise.  Birds, hundreds of birds chirping, dogs barking, the wind blowing lemon and lime trees gently and the occasionally lemon dropping to the ground.

What I want all of you to know is that the Mexican people are as warm and welcoming as the beautiful climate. Smiles and twinkling eyes greet you almost everywhere.

We visited an artisan community (Tonala) and bought some lovely pewter, glass at the glass blowing factory, trinkets and mementos at various town markets, walked the boardwalk in Chapala, went horseback riding along the lake, had dinner under a rubber tree (no relation to Trojan, a real rubber tree), watched Jesus ride a donkey over a palm leaf covered road to the community square and Basilica, spent a day at the Mineral Spa and spent 2 ½ hours moving from one mineral tub to another including a mud bath.  God bless the 90 year old gentleman who decided he needed to help me rub mud on my back and butt!

Had a lovely going away dinner party for the departing ranch residents and managed to get drunk on 2 Corona (b.t.w, Corona on sale at the local Wal-Mart, 24 Corona for $16Cdn...no, I don’t have any room left in my suitcase).  The boys 9, & 12 had a couple of massages each! I think I'm in trouble because they are already asking when they can have one at home....

I need to pack and really don’t want to.  Nicholas, Jacob and I truly had the best time.  We managed in our short time ( okay not so short if you ask Greg : ) )to develop a routine... fresh mango’s for breakfast, walks to the mountain, laying by the pool, drinks on the patio with friends at happy hour.   There is no question as to why Lynne and Greg decided to end their search here in Ajijic, its a beautiful magical place that has everything you could ask for, everything except all of you.

A huge thank you to Lynne and Greg for the best 10 days, laughter, friendship, and hospitality. A teary good bye to my great friends and their beautiful new home.

Thank you.

p.s  To those of you with children, I think Greg is turning a new leaf and wants to spend quality time with your kids.  Consider Mexico as a summer camp for your kids!!! Trust me, Greg will love it.  : )          xoxoxooxox

(Greg Note: - Obviously, Nadia spent a bit too loing at the happy hour bar and has me confused with some other kid lover!)

March 29 - Nadia Update 1

Okay, I complain regularly to Greg that he and Lynne had become very lax about updating the blog, after all what did they do all day anyway???

Well, I can tell you first hand that doing ‘nothing’ is very time consuming!!!

The boys and I arrived Monday March 22nd in the afternoon.  Greg picked us up and we drove the 30 min from the airport in Guadalajara to where Greg and Lynne live in a paradise community called Ajijic.

When I envision paradise, this place, the ranch is what I pictured.  The flora, greens, pink, yellow; lemon, lime and pomegranate trees, vibrant colour everywhere you look.  The back drop, the mountains on one side the lake to the other. Breathtaking.

After settling in on Monday and making sure Greg could be left alone with the kids without fear that he would not tie, or duct tape them to one on the nearby trees we began exploring.

Tuesday Greg, the boys and I climbed up the mountain to the shrine. Elevation? From the ‘casita’ to the base of the mountain we had already climbed 200 feet.  We climbed up the mountain to the shrine, aprox., 5700 feet above sea level.  I was breathing hard, and trying to get a deep breath was almost impossible. We spent the rest of the day by the pool and enjoying the day. 

Greg & I ran the hardest 5k (30:30) I have ever run.  5k over uneven cobble stone, uphill and with what felt like no oxygen in 26C heat.

Thursday we went back up the hill.  Greg and I made it up to the corn field, another 20 minutes higher than the shrine.  View, awesome! And cross training takes on a whole new meaning after walking in altitude for 2 hours.
Saturday we ran 14.5 km.  It took 3km just for my panting to subside.  It’s impossible to get a deep long breath. You find yourself panting and breathing hard at the least bit of exertion.  We found a comfortable pace and ran for 1:34

This morning we thought it would be fun to race up the mountain to the shrine. Greg kicked my ass and got there 30sec before me.  I was bent over and breathing hard when I finally got to the top (no comments you perverts).  There was a kid sitting on top of the shrine enjoying a joint eyeballing Greg and I for the nut cases we were.  The kid had ridden his bike up the mountain Some sections of the climb are so steep, I guess you gotta be stoned to ride back down.  Anyway, why not race down the mountain???? I redeemed myself though and made it down in 6min 30 secs!  (Greg behind me : )   )

We checked the Around the Bay results when we got back, we were thinking of you guys all morning.  Congratulations!!! Kind of bitter sweet thinking back to last year when we were both there running the mountain.

If any of you are wondering, the kids are still in good health, and Greg has yet to make good on his treats to duct tape them to a tree, or sell them into slavery to the locals.

We are having the best time.  The weather spectacular, almost 30C everyday.  I honestly can’t thank Greg and Lynne enough for taking us around to the sights and for their incredible hospitality.  This week has flown past, and honestly doing nothing is very time consuming....................!

March 26 Update

Nadia and the boys are here this week and we're having a blast. Her boys are great . . . well . . . . as great as kids can be anyway!!

Truthfully, they are so well behaved it's unbelievable! They are a pleasure to have around. We've done the Wednesday market and the Tonala visit. We watched glass bowls being blown yesterday and picked up tons of Pewter stuff while we were there. The boys are having a great time in the pool.

It's springtime here as it is back in the 'old country'. I think we talked about the purple Jacaranda trees the other day. I took some pictures (for a change) of them and the strangest looking pink feather like flowers I've ever seen. I haven't found out what they're called yet.

Here's the pictures of them.

I weighed Lucky today. She's up to 28.5 pounds already. I don't know if that's a lot for a 4 month old German Sheppard or not. We're just all happy as hell she's doing so well.

Most of the other folks who spend the winter on the ranch are leaving next week. It'll be a mixed blessing being here alone. It should be interesting.

Nadia is doing the next update.

There hasn't been a lot going on here since we got back from our Puerto Vallarta trip. The first week back was a sad week as puppy number 6 and number 7 died from Distemper. We'd pretty much adopted the puppies after they were born so, it was heartbreaking to see them die like that.

It seems that the Mexican culture is such that they think of dogs and cats about the way we think of squirrels and raccoons. They are animals but, it doesn't matter if they live or die and they certainly aren't going to spend hard earned cash on getting them shots or anything.

I've decided that if they dog has pups again, I'll take them myself to the vet for their shots.

The following week was great. no more sadness of dying puppies but, time to start teaching the last remaining puppy some tricks. I had named the pups a long time ago. The last one's name had been Bandit, but the folks renamed her Lucky when we were away. We decided to keep that name seeing as she'd won the Ajijic Survivor Series!

So far we've taught her to sit and to come when she's called. She HATES the collar and leash. She just shrinks into the ground when I put the collar on her. I guess I should leave it on her but, i feel bad looking at her scratch at it. I put it on for short periods of time and extend the time each time.

I decided for sure that I'm going to Lake Placid this summer to watch Ironman. Michelle, Gavin, Kathryn and Derek and a bunch of my mates from back home are racing. I emailed the "Swim" captain and got my old 'peeler' job back. Now all I have to do is find a place to stay when I get there. I expect I'll be able to pick up a last minute cancellation. I wonder if the hotels have waiting lists? Maybe I should email a bunch of them.

We've got LOTS of company coming over the next few weeks. Kevin and Jennifer arrive this Friday for a week. Nadia and her kids arrive the day after K & J leave. They'll be here for about 11 days. We have a week to ourselves after that and then Ron and Bev come for a week.

e're both really looking forward to seeing everyone. We've been looking at each other since . . . . . August. Gee, no wonder we're starting to get on each others nerves a bit!