Where We've Been, Lately

Monday (this was three weeks ago) we arose at the usual time - about 4 am - and spent the day doing some more unpacking from our recent move.  That afternoon we took the kids out to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for their vacation and returned home to figure out dinner.  ‘Out’ seemed to be the best answer, so it was off to Hecho en Mexico for a last Tex-Mex dinner.

Once home again it seemed silly to go to sleep.  Our shuttle was to pick us up at 1 am, and we’d probably sleep through wake-up time!  So we stayed up, doing some last minute stuff on the computer, checking the packing, and waiting….

Took all our stuff outside and waited on the sidewalk from about ten of one until 1:30 when the shuttle finally arrived.  And we weren’t alone - there were 3 others already in the van.

During our time on the sidewalk we were questioned by two Federales ‘walking the beat.’  Didn’t know they did that sort of thing in San Miguel.  Guess we had the correct answers as our interchange was cordial.

So after a long ride to the Mexico City airport through the dark of night and some rain, we were deposited with our luggage curbside and we did the check-in business.  Lines were short and service quick.  Found our way to the gate and eventually loaded onto the plane.  Luckily the flight wasn’t full and we moved to an exit row, so there was plenty of leg space for our three-hour flight to Miami, where we needed to clear customs and immigration, recheck our luggage, and go through security again for the quickie flight to Orlando.

Well, Miami immigration was a huge mass of non-moving humanity!  O.M.G.!!!  A gazillion lines, people standing in each one, nothing moving.  They moved a bunch of us from the Citizens and Residents line to a Visitor line, where nothing moved either.  And we had walked nearly the length of the airport to reach immigration.  What a trek!

We eventually noticed that the last Citizen line seemed to be the only line moving and switched to that line.  Turned out that there was another set of lines for Citizens only (no Residents) that moved right along - particularly when additional agents returned from lunch!

Finally made it through the line and moved on to Customs, which was a quick process, re-checked our bags, and headed through security - missing all the delicious-sounding food venues.  Finally found a Wendy’s near the boarding gate for some fast food.  I can’t believe that Wendy’s has bumped Burger King from second place; my sandwich was horrid - but it was food.

When we reached Orlando we found the Magical Express desk, gave them our luggage tags so they could retrieve our bags (we never got the luggage tags for our bags they told us they mailed in February), and jumped on the ME bus to Disney World!

After checking in, we went - via boat - to Downtown Disney Guest Services to arrange our park passes and Tables in Wonderland card.  As an Annual Pass holder TIW gave us a 20% discount at most restaurants, including alcoholic beverages, and added an 18% tip - our usual.  So since we would have added the tip anyway, it was a 20% discount; didn’t take long to earn back the cost of the TIW card.  In fact, the meal at California Grill probably covered the entire cost of the card with that one meal! 

The TIW card was a snap once we got our passes, but the passes proved problematic.  We’d arranged the passes through the Club (we got credit for the price of a Disneyland annual pass) and left the confirmation number in our room at Old Key West.  Rob, the cast member assisting us, couldn’t find Michael in their computer system (except for old things) but called the Club in California for the number.  Once he had that the rest of the process was simple and we were soon back on the boats to OKW.

So we ended our 40+ hour day with dinner at Olivia’s, our resort’s restaurant.  By the time we arrived they weren’t very busy so it wasn’t a long wait for a table.  The service as good (yeah, Annie!) and the food was wonderful - and not just because we were so hungry.  It was really good - baby string beans sautéed in olive oil, melt-in-your-mouth pot roast, et cetera.

Finally to bed.

The next morning dawned sometime before we awoke.  Still up early-ish as we needed to meet friends for breakfast at Kouzzina on the Boardwalk by 7:20.  WDW transportation is great - and free, but is limited to resort-to-parks.  There is no resort-to-resort service.  But we were on an early bus (Hollywood Studios because they were having Early Hours for a character breakfast that morning) and when the driver asked if we had a breakfast somewhere we sheepishly admitted that we were trying to get to Boardwalk to meet friends for breakfast.  Lo and behold, she stopped at Boardwalk and dropped us off!  A little pixie dust for the day.

Breakfast was good!  Love their savory breakfast stack with sweet potato hash, rye bread spread with an artichoke tapenade, and eggs and chicken sausage.  Yum!

Then it was off to EPCOT for us: Soarin’, the Flower and Garden Show, and lunch at the Mexico pavilion.  Our waitress was a bit taken aback when we responded to her ‘Buenas Dias’ in Spanish, until we explained that we now lived in Mexico.  As it turns out, she was headed back to Mexico for her sister’s wedding in two-week’s time in Guanajuato - the capital of the state in which we live! 

After lunch it was time for a nap and then back to Downtown Disney to satisfy my craving for fried chicken.  One might think that a staple at Disneyland would be easily found in Disney World, but it is not.  There is a counter-service restaurant in DTD which serves a Latin American version that was really quite good.  Better than what we find in San Miguel!  Then back for sleep.

The next day it was off to the take-away service counter for a fast breakfast overlooking the dock to the accompaniment of a family having a meltdown -  so early in the day, too!  I must say we saw many of these meltdowns, especially later in the day when tempers were frayed and children were tired.  Why do so many people take the family on vacation with small children?  Is it really for the kids?  ‘A chance to see WDW through their child’s eyes’?  Or is it for them and the kids happen to be along?

After another turn at EPCOT (Test Track, Ellen’s Energy University, and fish-and-chips for lunch), a quick nap and then off to the Magic Kingdom.  There we only rode the Pirates in the Caribbean attraction before walking over to Fantasyland to check out the expansion of the Land.  One of the Dumbo rides was in full swing and the Barnstormer (a roller coaster) was operating, but the lines were long for the new attractions, so we walked back to the entry gate, found our ‘brick’ in the Walk Around the World pavement, then strolled over to the Contemporary Resort for dinner at the California Grill on the top floor.  Great table next to the windows provided a view of Magic Kingdom.  Once again the food was great, service attentive, and our waiter was the staff sommelier.  Of course we joined our fellow diners on the outside observation platform when it was time for the Wishes fireworks show!  I think our friends from California were suitably impressed.  We decided to skip a visit to the Top of the Tower (the lounge on the top floor of the DVC building adjoining the Contemporary) and opted for bed!

Our last full day at the World was parks and eating and drinking ending with a trip to Animal Kingdom and dinner at the AK Lodge’s Boma.  My, their food is good, too.  I could dine there every day except AK Lodge is on the outskirts of the World - and travel to/from is long.  Our friends missed out on dinner here.

A New Tie

Gosh, how time flies!  Suddenly it's Saturday and things are finally slowing down.  Yesterday was haircuts for the trip and on the way we stopped at a fabric store to find some matching ribbon for our Oaxacan-style ties (braided cording with horsehair tassels).  We bought the tassels some time ago after wresting the information of where he got his fabulous tie from the co-owner of a boutique store we favor, but put off changing out the elastic for coordinated ribbons until just before we had to have it. 

Unfortunately, during the process of matching ties to ribbons, I managed to misplace one of the ties (Michael's!), so today I walked into town to the artsy-fartsy street with the shop from which we first purchased them.  Luckily, they still had one golden yellow tie left.  (Michael favors yellow.) So we're now ready for the cruise, tie-wise.  No one else will have these ties to go with their tuxedos - hee, hee, hee!  Most of our fellow passengers won't know where Oaxaca is, much less that they have a traditional style of tie.

And our kitchen cabinets did not arrive today.  We're now being told Monday.  I've told our people that they'd better pick up keys to the house as we leave at 1:00 AM Tuesday morning.  It would be nice to find the kitchen magically transformed in our absence....but I'd like to be here for placement of the pantry cabinet.

Oh, well, sometimes you need to let go....

We won't be staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge on this trip - nor will we be able to enjoy the Hoop-de-Doo dinner show, but perhaps next time. Instead we have my old boss and hubbie joining us for the first part of the vacation at WDW and ressies for the second half.

One slight disappointment with our cruise is that the new ship is too large to stop at Key West - which I've always wanted to visit since seeing a Jamie Lee Curtis/ Arnold What's-his-name film, True Lies. (I've loved Jamie Lee Curtis since A Fish Called Wanda.)  We will be visiting Key West on Disney cruise #12 before the Panama Canal cruise next May (if things don't change before then...).  I've also got Jamaica on my bucket list, to visit Noel Coward's last home in Ocho Rios and drink a martini-toast to him.  But another time.  There's always time, right?

I've got Fiyero wanting his dinner, so I suppose I should wrap this up.  Michael tells me that although the Pope will be celebrating a mass in Silao tomorrow, we've also got pilgrims arriving in town from Antotonilco, so fireworks in the morning!

It's Finished! (Expanded after a TIM moment yesterday)

Whew!  Having risen from my afternoon nap - this moving is hard work and we begin early in the day - Michael has brought the last little bits over to the new house, closed up the old house, and we're here now.  Dogs have begun to acclimate themselves to the new house: piling on the bed at night, visiting the backyard for their doggy duty (thank heavens!).

Once the carpenter shows up with the new pantry cabinet and reworked crystal cabinet we should be able to free up some additional space in the bodega (it's a maid's room, but we don't have a live-in) and be able to finish unpacking.  We've done well unpacking as we go (had to reuse the boxes), but there are still some to finish and things to put away.

This moving stuff is becoming less fun as we grow older.  Maybe after the dogs are gone to their reward, we can change our approach and rent a furnished, all-on-one-level home.  No, no -- we're in Mexico: we'll have to have an estate sale first, at least!

The new house is a bit smaller than the last one; I like to think it makes better use of the space, as it has the same number of rooms as before.  It is certainly lighter and brighter - a welcome turn of affairs! The other house was more Mexican, perhaps, but this one is Mexican Modern with lots of large windows and glass walls.  White, white, white!  I'll eventually post a few pictures.

We have about a week-and-a-half to settle in and then we're off to Orlando for some time at WDW before the Maiden Voyage on the new Fantasy, followed by some additional time at WDW to decompress and then it's home. Michael will continue to work on the house (there's a wall or two that need some color) while I have a week's turn-around before heading to the Midwest to help my sister and her husband spiff up a house in our old home town.

On the Fantasy, it's a Western Caribbean itinerary, which we've never taken.  A sea day getting to the western Caribbean, stops in Grand  Cayman (mostly beaches, I hear), Cozumel (the Tulum Ruins), Costa Maya (the Chaccohoben Mayan Ruins), another day at sea getting back to the Bahamas then a day at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, and  then back to the World for a few days.  All for the Maiden Voyage on Disney's newest ship, the Fantasy: larger (4000 pax vs 2400 pax); a couple more decks; re-imagined restaurants (about time - bored with Animators' Palette) and an even more upscale Remy in addition to Palo.  Bringing a swimming suit and a tux!

The Move is Underway!

It has taken 4 men 45 minutes to manhandle the washer from the third floor roof-top laundry room down a twisty-curvy stairway (the stairs start with a run straight ahead until they reach a tight 180-degree turn, then continue straight ahead in the opposite direction until they reach a 90-degree turn) to the ground floor of this house.  Once they walk the washer over to the new house, there will be only the dryer - which should be lighter, I hope (no pump, only a motor to turn the drum).

They seem to still be in good spirits.  They'll probably be in better spirits when they discover that the laundry room at the new house is on the ground floor not the rooftop!

They've returned and gone upstairs to tackle the dryer....

The Big Move

This time we're lucky, I guess.  Our move from one house to another is only 2 doors away!  Yes, we're moving from No. 14 to No. 20 (bracketed by No. 24 and 28A - go figure)!  Guess the folks who built 24 and 28A didn't know that our new house is No. 20.  I'd guess it had been there a while.  And the street number is not displayed, so you can't really complain about those who numbered their houses later.  Well, you can, but it would do no good!

And the big move is only 2 days away.  We've been moving a room a day for the last week and a half (okay, so some days we didn't move an entire room). But the day after tomorrow is when we make the 'official' move.  The movers are coming to move the big, heavy stuff: washer and dryer on the rooftop, fridge and estufa in the kitchen, some chests of drawers from our bedroom, the king-sized bed, the guest room mattress, the living room sofa, and those three umbrella bases, which probably weigh close to 250 pounds combined.

We've moved practically everything else ourselves, and will move the office computers, faxes, scanners, phones, and desks ourselves.  The day to transfer our cable/internet/telephone service will also be scheduled for Thursday, if we're lucky.  IF not, we'll work in two locations for a while. After that, the old house at No. 14 will be virtually empty.  But we'll have a few days before we leave on vacation for any last minute things.
Readying the new house for occupancy has kept us busy.

Although the lease states that the condition of the new house is 'perfect' it was far from that - and we've got the pictures to prove it.  We've removed the upper kitchen cabinets from No. 14 and they are being reconfigured for the new kitchen.  The backyard has been scalped and we're waiting for it to spring back to life. (See comment later about a weed whacker.)  The additional kitchen cabinets should be in place by this coming weekend.  Cabinets and drawers have been lined (shelf lining paper is hard to find in Mexico).  The maid's room has been turned into a storage bodega, with the extra kitchen cabinets installed there.  The muck on all the windows in the house has been cleaned off (2 days for that); the house has been cleaned from top to bottom (another 2 days).  We have installed purified water for the house (you should have seen me scaling the ladder to reach the tinaco and then hanging through the cupola's window to change the light bulb over the stairs).  Paint has been chosen (Michael gets to paint while I'm in Indiana for 6 weeks painting a house).

The propane gas line has been extended into the utility yard for the dryer and the BBQ.   Planters still need to be selected and planted to keep Fiyero from trying to walk the ledges of the terraces.  Sixty-plus pictures have been distributed through out the house (we need to arrange their hanging; cement walls are not the same as drywall in the US). Moving the drapery rods from No. 14 to No. 20 plus a few new, longer rods has been arranged - also for Thursday. We've tried our hands at using a weed whacker on the back yard. Locks have been re-keyed.  Lower closet rods have been installed.  Chandeliers from No. 14 have been moved to No. 20 and installed.  Additional lighting fixtures are being shopped for. We're also looking at some ceiling fans, outside light fixtures, additional blinds, and a combined microwave and exhaust fan unit.

Whew!  Hope we're ready when it's time to shuttle to Mexico City for our flight to Orlando!

Casting About

Castaway Cay is the name of Disney's private island in the Bahamas.  An idyllic place to land after bobbing about in the ocean.  The name reminds me of what we're presently doing: casting about for what to move next!

While hurried moves can be distressing, having a month in which to move house is almost too long.  There's still that little voice in your head saying: Hurry up, time's a-wasting! Something might go wrong.

We're at that state.  While we have a timeline in which certain things should be accomplished, there's a lot of wiggle room.  We began with the concept of moving a room a day, but there was extra time, so some rooms got moved ahead of schedule.  Then some planned events (the new gas line for the dryer, for instance) got delayed due to availability of workers.  Cleaning the house took two days instead of one.  While we've mostly adopted the Mexican approach to life - mañana - it still throws a wrench into one's plans.

So here we are at 4 am, wondering what's next.  There is a point where everything will move to the new house and then we'll live there!  But we're still in the stage of maintaining a life in the old house: the kitchen appliances are here, so we'll be eating here; the office is still here, so we're working here; and our bedroom is still here, so we're sleeping here.  And since our internet/telephone/phone service is tied together - and you can't have service at two locations at once - the final move must be carefully choreographed.

We have, on the other hand, signed up on line to review the electrical billings of the new house.  That is amazingly simple.  Not that we can switch the ownership of the account to us without purchasing the property (where in the states they only care about who is paying the bill), but we can sign-up online to review the account if we have the name and number associated with it.  And since bills are delivered door-to-door, we have the information for the new place, too.

It gives you an idea of what kind of deadbeat your landlord is, that's for sure!  He presently owes $301 pesos in arrears.  Which is a different concept here, too.  Why pay my taxes when the government won't try to collect for a few years?  How long does it take to turn off services? There's always mañana....

I'm sure we'll think of something useful to do today.  Once the Mega opens I can get a pair of gardening gloves and attack the weeds in the new back yard.  Our gardener didn't show yesterday and the dogs can't go over until the backyard is cleared up or we'll be brushing coats for days.  We'll have help on Monday for moving heavy stuff (though the washer/dryer and kitchen appliances, for instance, will go at the last minute). And Tuesday the carpenter will be here to remove the upper kitchen cabinets which we're having reworked for the new house.  We put the upper cabinets in ourselves, so they're ours to do with as we please - and it pleases us to move them.  That means we need to bundle up all our dishes and stemware so they can move the cabinets to their workrooms - but that requires bubblewrap and the Office Depot doesn't open until later in the morning.

And today we're going to see the Luche Libre - Mexican-style wrestling by big guys wearing head-covering masks.  Can you believe that some appear in movies wearing still wearing their masks?!?  Bizarre.  I'm hoping our friends can explain some of this mystique to us....

It's now about 5 am: Mega opens at 8; Office Depot at 10.  Perhaps a little nap is required.  In the meanwhile, we'll cast about for something useful to do.

A Shout-Out

This is just a shout-out to Dorita Loca, who has a blog about San Miguel, too.  She writes even less frequently than I do, but I love her take on things SOB.

Her blogs address is:  http://dmgb.wordpress.com/

She's funny in person, too!