Well good morning friends! How are things in your part of the world? cold? hmmm...I thought so! We had another beautiful weekend here in the Caribbean.....yesterday was +30 out and sunny and hot! I got quite a burn, as did Joe......it was a bit overcast so the sun didn't seem as hot as it was and so we stayed out in it too long! But that is ok....give me sunburn over frost bite anyday of the week!! ha ha.....
We had a great week....we are starting to get a rythym going here, a routine and perhaps we are starting to settle into the idea of "living" here not just on some big vacation. Right now I have Mondays off and I would like to keep it that way...I really enjoy having that one day where i can just veg and enjoy the quiet....I go pick up Christian at 12:15 so I really just have the morning but it is awesome! Tuesday to Friday I work so we are all up about 6:15 getting ready as we have to be out the door around 7:10....it is hard on all of us as we are not early rising kind of people! Back home we used to push snooze several times and finally crawl out close to 7:30! So this is a big change for us! The boys are still working on their adjustment but for the most part they are doing fairly well. They are getting involved in some activities and the lizard hunting is still the favourite activity (well Monty's anyway!!) He has gotten extremely good at catching the poor little guys....occasionally he forgets and grabs one by the tall (and for all of you who know anything about lizards you know that lizards come equip with a slick little defense mechanism that we like to call "drop the tail" so Monty has come up a few times with just a tail! But hey...he is having fun!)
Joe and I went over to St Maarten this weekend , are ya ready.....BY OURSELVES....yes that is right....no kids....some new friends of ours...Billy and Lisa very kindly and generously offered to keep them so that we could over for the day.....Billy is Joe's study buddy and a former chiropractor...and Lisa is his wife, a former electrician...they are from Arizona and are very nice, funny people. I was a little nervous to leave the island and leave the kids behind for the day, but I figured that they were in pretty good hands so away we went. We travelled over on the ferry, which cost us $80 each round trip....it was quite a ride,crossing the open sea in a small vessel. Joe and I sat at the back on the outdoor benches, thinking the fresh air would keep us from being seasick....it worked but Wow what a ride! Imagine a roller coaster that lasts for 2 hours and you get the ferry ride experience.....I didn't mind it at all but some people looked a little greenish.....On the way over we shared the ferry with a group of docs from Toronto who were in Saba on a diving expedition......they were leaving and heading back to the cold! They all raved on about the diving and how amazing Saba is so we felt a little proud and blessed that we live there and get to go back....they were all a little envious of us.....So over in St Maarten the weather was amazing and we wandered around all day in the shopping district in Phillipsburn. It is basically where all the tourists from the cruise ships would spend the day....there were streets and alleys galore with shopping. We knew that we had a few things that we were looking for and a strict budget....but we couldn't help wish a little bit that we had some extra dollars to buy some things....there was incredible deals to be had....one jewelry store had Joe's dream watch....a citizen professional diving watch, one which he has admired for years and usually sells in Canada for around $700 ....it was offered to us for $235 US no taxes (duty free!) it was hard to walk away from that deal! But we had to....alas...in about 10 years Joe can go back and get it...when we are out practicing and the student loans are paid off (ha ha) We had an amazing brunch on an outdoor patio and then wandered around.....we were successful in our shopping.....we got our most important item....a TRAMPOLINE for the boys!! They were so excited!! They have wanted one for a long time and we both felt that it would be a great rec activity to have at the house.....esp since they don't know tons of people and they aren't getting out as much as they used to....it was a hit and Monty jumped on it all day....at one point he looked at us and said I am exhausted....we looked each other and said wow it was worth twice what we paid to hear those words from Monty!!!! So we buy the trampoline at the cost-u-less (basically costco) and a bunch of other items to bring back (fruit rollups and curley wurleys!!) and then we head outside because for Costco to take our items to the ferry it has to be all packaged properly....while outside these young fellows tape up all our boxes and charge us $10 for the service and then a fellow says where do you want these to go, i can take you for $25...dont rely on cost co as they get around to it when is convenient to them.....I look at Joe and he says whatever you think dear.....WHAT? ok Joe, I am a smart, intelligent, capable woman most of the time but I am not an experience world traveller so do we jump in a truck with a strange man and allow him to take us to (our death possibly) err the boat??? Joe is no help so I look the guy over, talk to him, check out his truck, do the fastest social work assessment possible and decide he is ok and say yes...so off we jump crammed into his little truck with our boxes...and then I start to get a little cocky and say "how much extra for you to stop at a pet store so i can buy my son a cage for a lizard?" He says oh sure for $7 more I will do that...I say deal and away we go (I am kind of liking this valet service!! my own personal taxi!) so he takes us and we get to the boat (albeit he was a bit of a wild driver and we had no seatbelts....we are sliding with our safety rules, now partaking in hitchiking, picking up hitchikers, no seatbelts, etc) and he helps us unload everything...on the way to the boat he gives us the lowdown on history and culture of St Maarten from a locals's perspective....so it was an intersting experience! Anyway we really enjoyed our day in St Maarten! It was great.
I better run and get a few things done since it is my day off! I will write again soon! I know that my blog is like an episode of Lost for many of you....h aha just kidding....I do like letting you all know how life is going here though....it is interesting to say the least! Take care dear friends and may God richly bless you in the coming week!
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