Bye Bye Stitches, Hello Treadmill

Hooray! The stitches are out! Got them out this morning. The nurse praised me on how well I took care of the areas, and they think I prob won't have scars at all. I was so excited to come home tonight and USE MY GYM! The doc would not let me until the stitches were out. I had a great workout tonight. I forgot how much I missed it, and it's only been two weeks. Of which I was sick most of, so my workouts prob would have ceased a little bit anyway.

Had to go to the Cingular store today. I accidentally put Kurt's phone in the washing machine. And of course, he was annoyed at ME because of it. If he actually took his phone out of his pocket, this prob would be solved, but whatever. I screwed up. The phone is like 2 years old anyway, so it was prob about a time for an upgrade. Of course, the phone I wanted for him was out of stock. So, I came home, after my workout and called Cingular. I somehow talked them into a cheaper price on the phone and it is getting delivered overnight to us. He is getting the Treo 750. I had to stop myself from looking at phones for myself--I heart new phones.

Anyway, break down of my weekend.

Friday night, Kurt, Kory and I went to dinner with some friends at Crave in Dearborn. The food was awesome, as usual, and dinner was fun. I had my fav shrimp meal and Kurt got kinda drunk on Japanese beer, LOL. After dinner, we sat in the outside lounge which is really kewl. Saturday, I had lunch with friends again in Dearborn, and then headed to Ferndale to see Rebecca and get my monthly shopping at Trader Joe's done. I needed more fresh fish, we were about out at the house. Sunday, Rebecca came over and we went shopping in Toledo at the mall. I ended up only getting some stuff at Bath and Body Works--they were having an awesome sale. Afterwards, we had a small BBQ with Kory, Kurt and Britton. We grilled steaks and swordfish, and made twice baked potatoes, grilled asparagus, chips/salsa, ceasar salad and lobster, lava cakes for dessert.......We lit fireworks that night too, which was a lot of fun.

So tired. Talk more later. Night!

Personality Test

This was fun! Below is how I see myself. Click here to take it yourself so I can see if you view me the same as I view myself. Once on this page, enter the following in order to take my personalized quiz: http://personaldna.com/psychyou-psychme.php?for=f8a682081a4a'.

Dwindling List

The list at work is getting smaller. I think the list is at the lowest it's been in years. Oh, the list is a master list of all clients, and what the status of their case is. Some cases nothing needs to be done, some cases documents need to be drafted, some phone calls need to be made, etc. Anyway. We have worked a lot of weekend days this year, and I think it has really helped us catch up, which is awesome. It's easier to leave the office at a normal hour when we are so caught up. Yay.

Last night, we went to Pete's garage with Kory and had dinner. I felt like I had not been there in forever, and it's a normal hangout of ours. It was nice to relax and watch part of teh Tigers game and eat my normal tuna sandwich. And the Tigers played awesome!

I cannot wait until Monday morning. I am getting my stiches out, first thing. And--I can workout again on Monday night! Hooray! I am so sick of not working out, although I will say that some things have gotten done around the house because of not being able to work out. And I have been sick all week, so my workouts would have been limited anyway. I can't wait to start watching all my DVDs in the basement again.

Kory went and rented equipment and started digging one of the ponds in the backyard. It seriously looks like a huge meteorite has landed in the yard. They are leaving an island with a tree on it in the center of the pond. Everything looks very odd right now. The pugs think it's like a new play area for them though. Anything new and different is exciting for them though.

Anyway, back to my laundry and dishes. I have a really busy weekend, socially, so I am sure I will have more to post about and maybe pictures in the near future....

Britain Got Talent - Connie Singing Over the Rainbow

This is one of the cutest things I have seen in forever. I was crying at my desk at work watching this little girl.

Wedding Showers and a Cold

Went to my sister's wedding shower today. We got pretty much everything on her registry and more. The one thing she did not get on ger registry, I might get her for her wedding present. I got her pots and pans from Target she wanted. My Mom did an awesome job on her shower. The food was awesome, the games were not tacky or long, and everyone seemed to have a great time. I took pics, which I will post later. I gave my Mom her Mother's Day gift as well, which was the total perfect gift for her, and she loved it. She loves roosters and gardening, and this gift combined the two. Click here to see it. I can't wait to see what she does with it in her yard.

I can't believe how sick I am either. It seems to be getting slightly better, but ugh. Last night, I fell asleep at 830, which is so insanely early for me. Slept until 1030 a.m. So like 14 hours. And I was STILL tired. It's crazy. I guess I need the sleep, but UGH. I don't have time to be sick.

I got annoyed with someone today. I get so sick of mothers who think they are better than other people, know more than others, whatever. The comment "You will understand when you have kids" has got to be one of the most annoying statements, and one of the few things people can say that get under my skin. Not only is it rude, but it's condescending and offbase. I witnessed someone today being rude to a child. Said child was just telling a story, and mother did not like the story. Fine. If you don't want your kid to tell the story, tell them to stop telling said story. You don't have to belittle the kid, be overly stern, and be rude. No, I am not a parent, but if I was, I would not embarass my kids in front of others and reprimand them for tiny little things that are not necessary. I simply rolled my eyes at said person (she is family, so I can do this, LOL), and that is the comment I got. well, NO, I won't understand when I have kids, because I don't think it's OK to act that way EVER. My Mom never did that to us. If we ever got in trouble (which was rare), she would take us aside or do so at home, not in front of others, and not in a bossy, annoying way. I think it makes your kids respect you less when you treat them in a totally crappy way like that. It's common sense and decency, not knowing how to be a parent or some kind of learned parental behavior. This person will also constantly make comments when the kid is around like "she never listens" or "she misbehaves all the time" in ear range of the kid. I can't stand this either, but HEY, she is a mother, so she must understand more than me, right? Anyway, end of vent. Also, please understand that this is just me going off on a tangent....I don't think said person is a bad person or bad mother or whatever. I just think that just because you are a mother does not make you smarter or better than the next person....

I'm Dizzy for Donr

And no, my friends, not because I am blonde....OK, maybe that is some of it....Ha. OMG, I am so sick. On Tuesday night, out of noplace, I suddenly felt soooooo sick. Like the worst symptoms of a bad cold all at once. My throat was totally scratchy, my sinuses all plugged up, ugh. Well, the next day, Wed, I was pretty much useful at work and today was slightly better, but not much. I have no patience whatsoever when sick, and this is not helpful at my office. But, I did what I could. Being sick should not be allowed for busy people, I swear.

Tonight had a board meeting. It was really long, as their was a special meeting called at 5, then the normal meeting at 7, and I went out for dinner afterwards with some of the board at like 9. I know I should not do all this when sick, but it is what it is, I suppose. Dinner was fun though.

So far, my cuts from the surgery seem to be healing nicely. I can go back in about a week and a couple days to get the stiches removed and get back to working out. That is so the worst part of this.

Oh, and hilarious comment. I got this comment on my last post that is wrong, on so many levels. I will cut and paste for your reading pleasure.

donr said...
your gross, that's gross, why would you go somewhere, where you can get something like that. it's almost like having sex with someone who you know has a disease and you do not use protection or let alone just have sex with them.....and by the way why would you tell strangers your personal business bloggin is stupid. my friend told me about how nasty you were so i just had to see for myself and they were right

After the first two words, "your gross", I knew I was in for a classy, nontrashy comment. How about YOU ARE GROSS, Donnie boy? If you are going to put me down or trash me, could you do me a little favor and use proper fucking grammar? Thanks sweetie. Also, I don't know what perfect world you live in, but there are hazards and issues in EVERY country. Assuming you live in the US, here's a little fact for ya. WE HAVE BOTFLIES HERE. Yes, here, Donnie, in your own country! OMG! Maybe you should move. Because living in the US would kinda be like sleeping with someone with an STD! or having unprotected sex. And yes, blogging is totally lame. That's why you are reading my blog and posting on it.

Off to sleep with the aid of cough syrup. Talk to y'all tomorrow. :).

Warning: Don't Read If you Are Easily Grossed Out

So, more on the ER visit from last night.

Kurt and I got a bunch of mosquito bites while in Belize. This is common with walking in the jungle, hiking, etc. It happens to us on like every trip we take, really. Anyway. They usually go away fairly quickly. Since we got back though, we have both had several bites that have not gone away, and have actually been somewhat painful. Painful enough that I wake up in the middle of the night in pain. For those of you who don't know me well, I never wake up in the middle of the night. I am like the soundest sleeper ever. I basically blew it off, thinking I just had really sensitive bites, but Kurt decided to try and look up the symptoms online last night. He was starting to think we were bit by something maybe poisonous, or perhaps a tick, or something similar. Umm, yea.

So, he finds several articles where people who have travelled to Central America are listing our exact symptons. Sharp pains, bug bites that seem to get bigger, etc. And they are listing the culprit as a nondeadly, non poisonous bug called a Botfly.

This is where is gets disgusting.

Basically, mosquitos in the jungle pick up the eggs of the botfly and carry them around. When they sting someone, they deposit the eggs in your skin. Then, STOP READING if you can't take this, the eggs basically grow into larvae in your skin and turn into small creatures that kinda resemble a maggot. They are basically living underneath your skin. This condition is called myiasis and is actually fairly commonin Africa, and Central America, as well as South America. there have even been cases in the United States, although much rare.

We still don't know at this point what is going on, because you know what they say about self diagnosis when you are not a doctor. But, we decide to go to the ER anyway.

Get there and are ironically seen by a doctor who used to live in Columbia, which has this bug there too. He looked at our bites, prescribed us an antibiotic and told us that we needed to see a dermatoligist the next day in Monroe, as we needed biopsies taken of the area for testing.

So today, the appointment. We went together, but they put us in different rooms. The doctor started with Kurt, and then came in for me. He told me he cut one of Kurt's open and found nothing. So, I was thinking, "Maybe we are nuts..." They started with one bite I had on my side, kinda right below my bra line on the right hand side. They numbed the area (which was the only part of the procedure that even hurt), by giving me 5 shots around the bite. After that set in, they did the biopsy, which was basically cutting about a one quarter inch piece of skin out at the bite area and taking a sample of the area. The next thing the doctor says is "well, I guess you are not as lucky as your husband, you have a little friend!" Yes, I have the larvae in my body. Nice. And, it was alive. So nice. DISGUSTING. Anyway, he asked if I wanted to treat the other two or wait, and of course, I was like, let's get this over with. So, they numbed the other two on my legs, and found "friends" in each of those two.

The doctor was beyond excited. I am glad someone was, LOL. He kept having different nurses, etc. come in to watch my procedure and was taking pictures and just raving about how "cool" this was.....HA. I am glad I made his year, anyway.

Went into the waiting room and told Kurt that they found 3 in me. He insisted on going back because he was convinced they missed someone on him. So, the doc opened up 2 more wounds and found two "friends" on Kurt too. He wont do more than 3 biopsies a day on one person, so Kurt has to go back next Monday for the search for more. He was not happy about this as he wanted it all done on one day. Oh, I got to watch Kurt's second procedures, and it was actually pretty interesting. I never thought I could be the doctor type and watch stuff like that, but it did not bother me at all.

So, I guess that's the end of the story with this one. I am now hurting from where the stitches are allowing my skin to grow back together, ugh.

Everyone kept asking if this would deter our travel in the future, and of course it won't. It is an experience I will for sure never forget though, and not a souvenir I *wanted* to have from Belize.......

Weekend

So, this weekend was nice. We were supposed to work at least one of the days and ended up not going in at all. I hate working weekends, but sometimes,it is necessary.......Anyway.

Saturday, I got up and went to an art fair in Livonia with my Aunt. It was nice to walk around, the weather was perfect. I bought a really cute nail file for my purse that is apparently indestructible (made out of glass, and has a cute lady bug design on the end), and a cement bird bath for the yard. My Aunt and I had lunch at Eastside Mario's which was super yummy, love that place. After that, Kurt and I headed to Toledo to the Mudhens Game (for those of you to don't know, it is the Tigers Triple A baseball team). We were invited to an event held by one of Kurt's former colleages at the IRS, Steve, and his wife, Marilyn. They get a luxury suite every year at the stadium and invite others to come out to watch the game with food, etc. Anyway, the game was awesome (the Hens won in extra innings), the food was great, and it was awesome to see Steve and Marilyn. Thanks again for the invite, guys. We had a fabulous time. I took pics, but have not had time to download them yet. The one downfall of the game was the suite next to us. They were seriously the most annoying people EVER. Totally wasted and allowing their kids to run wild. the one little girl, I am not kidding, every 1 minute or more, would let out this screeching yell that literally made us cover our ears. We were all giving her dirty looks, and she would just scream louder. Total spoiled brat. Towards the end of the game, she accidentally? hit the lady next to her in our suite. The lady said something to her like "maybe you should calm down". Her Mom immediately jumped all over the woman in our booth telling her that her daughter would now scream louder and she should not tell her daughter what to do. No "sorry my kid hit you" or "sorry my kid drove you insane all game." Of course not. These people were complete and total trash.

Sunday, we stayed in. I picked up a lot of crap at the house, did some laundry, vacuuming........And the night ended with a trip the ER, which I am going to post in another post on here, if I decide to divulge the disgusting details.....I prob will later.

Hope everyone had a great weekend too.

Time for a Parisian Vent

Not that another source needs to talk about this, but I had to put in my two cents.

It made my day that Paris Hilton is back in jail. Not because of how I feel about her (because I don't really *feel* anything, she is a celebrity who is famous for doing not much of anything, whatever). But because I think what happens today shows that justice does prevail (sometimes) and celebrities don't always get out of everything.

For those of you who think Paris is getting treated wrongfully and differently than others and to Sheriff Baca who let her out (wrongfully, without consulting the Judge AND ignoring the court's Order that she not serve her sentence under house arrest), let me fill you in on the obvious.

First, Paris drank and drove a car. WRONG. Horrible, really. If Paris had hit and killed a pedestrian who Sheriff Baca knew, you think he would be saying this? No, she did not hit anyone. Could she have? Totally. Which is why you don't drink and drive, the possibilty of those things happening. Anyway. She barely got a slap on the wrist for that. Which most first time offenders get about the same. Fine. Then, she violates the probation by DRIVING. Most people would be arrested at this point. Not Paris. The officers simply warn her and make her sign a statement that she realized she should not have been driving and would not do it again. Here, my friends, special treatment. Next, Paris, intelligently, DRIVES A SECOND TIME, after being warned. Her excuse this time is the same, "I don't get it", but the stupid blonde act did not work this time. She gets put in jail for a measly 45 days. Whoop de do.

People seriously think she is getting made an example of? Most people in her situation would have been in jail for the first violation. And for the second? A much longer sentence than 45 freaking days. She should have been thankful for that short of a sentence for what she did but NOOOO. Her entire family thinks this is "atrocious", "horrible", "unfair" and a bunch more descriptive words that about the opposite of the truth. Her mother cracks me up. She is the root of Paris' problem superior attitude. Seeing her talk about the sitution is almost comical, if it was not making me vomit.

I just hope she loses her appeal. While I don't blame her for actually leaving jail (yea, someone tells you to leave, I would leave too), she should not bee so appalled at being put back in.

Vent over.

Birdies

I heart the birdies in my yard. :). Today we stopped after work and bought a ton of bird feed and suets at the store, as we were out of suet and low on food. The lady who checked us out was like "Is this ALL for your yard?" I said yes, and she was like "I have never seen anyone buy this much bird feed in my life..." LOL. We have spoiled birds, what can I say. Kurt is seriously in love with the cardinals. I think we may two males and a female. And there is this robin who is hilarious, who is the size of like two robins and sits in this tree just watching the action. I want to get a hummingbird feeder next, but need to find a good one. I know we have them in the yard, but I dont see them much, prob because we dont have a feeder.

Work was crazy today. Like usual. Aargh. I hate the phone so much from being there.

I posted previously about enabling. There was more drama with that story tonight. It's almost amusing because Kurt and I predict the next things that will happen with the situation, and it happens. Everyone in her family will be like "Oh, her boyfriend is gone, everything will be OK now" and Kurt and I crack up because she is the root of the problem, NOT the boyfriend. Yea, I agree, he is a loser, but SHE is the issue here. They think that everything she does is because of him. Umm, no. She makes her own choices. YOU ARE ENABLING HER BY CONTINUING TO SAY THAT THIS IS SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT. MAKE HER TAKE BLAME FOR HER ACTIONS. Duh. I don't see what is so difficult about this. It's exasperating, yet not surprising.

Kory sold his car! Yay Kory! Someone came over tonight, looked at it, made an offer, and are coming back this weekend to pay. He was thrilled to get rid of it (since he is already driving a new truck). Congrats!

Weekly Challenge

I know I have not posted a response to any of Heather's Weekly Challenges yet, but I am hereby going to start and try and go back and answer some of them from the past, if I am trying to procrastinate at work. Thanks, Heather, for a reason to procrastinate. You rock.

Heather's Weekly Question.

What would you do if you won a million dollars today?

1. Pay off my mortgage and land mortgage.
2. Pay off the two cars that still have payments on them.
3. Pay for someone to put a pond in on our land so Kurt and Kory don't have to do the work (no idea how much this costs, so I am guessing).
4. Pay someone to finish my basement immediately so Kurt and Kory dont have to do that either (no idea how much this costs, so I am guessing)
5. The rest of it I would most likely buy land and build a house someplace in a Central American country, i.e. Belize or Costa Rica.
6. If anything is left over, I would invest it.

**I challenge everyone who reads this blog (who does not already answer Heather's Challenges) to answer this question as well. :).

From Jeannie--MEME

I normally don't post stuff like this on my blog, but since Jeannie tagged me, the rule is I must. If I tag you at the end, you MUST answer. If you don't.....Well, I won't tell you what happens if you don't, because it's not a positive thing....MUHAHAHA. Here are the questions.

Four things you learned or experienced or explored for the first time in the past four years.

1. Photography. I don't recall exactly when my exploration began, but I found a hobby, a passion really, for something that makes me think I am creative (which I never thought before), makes me relaxed (which is difficult with my career), and makes me truly happy. I love the fact that people think I am "good" at something that I am so passionate about, and at the same time, I like the fact that I don't "care" if I am good at it or not. Even if every picture I took sucked, I would like photography because of how it makes me feel. I have had hobbies and interests in the past, but this is on a totally different level.

2. Confidence. I think I have always been somewhat confident. My parents both encouraged me and supported me in anything I did my entire life. But, I think it just happened last year that I started to really believe in myself. When I took the bar exam, I truly had myself convinced I failed. I started doing this thing to myself where I would set myself up to fail, so when I did fail, it would not be a big deal. Well, I did that again with the school board interview, and got that too. Passed the bar and got appointed the same very week. I sat back and said to myself, "You know what? You need to start believing you can do stuff like this. There is no reason whatsoever for you to think you are going to fail." So, if I fail. Fine. But, I am going into things now believing that I will succeed

3. Money Is Not Everything. Kurt and I have a very successful law practice. I have a nice house, luxury cars, and can pretty much buy what I want (within reason). I get to take awesome vacations, and don't have to worry about paying bills. BUT. This does not make one happy. Does money help? For sure. I don't have to worry about the things others do, and I am very lucky for that with the horrible economy in Michigan right now. On the flip side, I am stressed out. I work a lot of hours. I have little spare time. My job is my life, since I run my own business and am constantly thinking about things that need to be done, documents that need to be drafted. I can't just "leave the office at the office." I am not saying at all that I am not happy at all, because I am. I am just saying that money does not make everything perfect.

4. Enabling is BAD. We have a family member who has serious issues. She has stolen from her parents, lied excessively, etc. I am a huge forgiver, but there is a point where I just can't take it anymore, and can't trust anymore. If you steal from your parents in the manner she did, I really wonder if there is a point of return there. And when someone does not even realize that they did anything wrong, or try to fix the problem, and others just keep forgiving and acting like nothing happened, this is a problem too. Hence, enabling. If someone has a major problem, and I mean major, sometimes forgiving and not making the person get help is totally not helping the situation. Ever seen Intervention? Yea, that. Not just about drugs and alcohol addictions. I found that although I feel horrible about the entire situation, I am NOT going to enable this person. I doubt my actions mean anything, since most of the rest of our family acts like nothing has happened at all, but if my actions help, even remotely, than I will be happy that I could help this person. I know, this is evasive, but you get the point.

Four things I want to try new in the next four years.

1. Comfortable Public Speaking. I am confident in my knowledge of law and the areas we practice. I am confident in my ability in court. But public speaking terrifies me. Nobody would know this, as I don't come across this way at all. But every time I have to speak in public, I am freaking out inside. It is so odd. I follow through, do what I need to do, but it is not second nature at all. I want it to be. I want to learn this.

2. Driving a Stick. We have one car that is a stick shift. I kinda know how to drive it, but don't, because I am not a pro at it. Need to take Kurt and the car out more and become comfortable with this.

3. Rockclimbing. I want to start by going to a local gym that has indoor stuff, and then maybe escalate to minor outdoor stuff. I love being outdoors and exercise, so this seems like my kinda thing.

4. Learning Spanish. I bought a really advanced Spanish program in January. yea, that has barely been used. Need to use the program and LEARN.

That's it, my friends! I now tag: Rebecca, Lisa, Nancy, Alex, Sarah, Julia, Justine, Mindy, Rachel, Racheal, Heather, the other Heather, Kelsie, and anyone else who reads this blog! I am too tired to list out any other names......

Happy Birthday Kory and Christie!

**me and Kurty, at Crave in Dearborn.


Today is kory's 22nd bday....we took him to dinner after work at Crave in Dearborn, which is my fav restaurant. Food was exceptional, yet again. Service? Not so exceptional. Horrendous, actually. I don't even know if I can describe howw bad, but, let me try. Got there, were seated right away since I have a reservation (glad I did, because they were slammed). Sat there 25 minutes with nobody even GREETING our table. Nice. Went and asked the host to send someone over. He did, with water. The guy (who was not our server, but the bartender) took our order. We waited another 25 minutes with NOTHING. We had ordered miso soup, sushi as an appetizer AND meals. Nothing. This is 50 minutes into the meal by now. Kurt gets up and goes and talks to the manager. Manager is basically making up excuses--servers called in sick, yada yada. Prob with that? Others tables around us were getting food and service, and we were not for some reason. Aargh. Long story short, we started to get food and stuff about 15 minutes more later and everything tasted fabulous. They did not charge us for drinks and took 25% off our bill, which was nice, but I Would have beeen fine paying full price and getting good service. I always order Kory something at Japanese places and dont tell him what and make him eat it. This time, I got him sea urchin (uni). It looked horrible, but of course, he liked it. ha. Oh, and for his birthday, we got him a pug card with a little IOU inside for a plane ticket to Vegas. So, when we go next, he only needs to bring food and spending money. Prob won't be until later this year, but he liked it. :).

**Kory's sea urchin.

Oh, Kurt actually BOUGHT me something today. On his own. I know, I was shocked too, LOL. He was at court and they were having a book sale and he got me this awesome book about birds written by the Audubon Society. I love it.

Tried to call my sister to tell her happy birthday and at 915 p.m., she was already in bed! Craziness!

**birdie in our back yard eating.

Happy Birthday Christie and Kory!

Bad with Posting Lately

I feel so insanely busy lately, and I have no idea why. By the time I get home, make dinner, take the dogs for a walk, feed the birds outside and workout, I have no time to do anything but check my email and go to bed. Blah. Need to start making time for blogging daily again, somehow.

Anyway. Will try and update now from Friday on.

Friday. After work, Kurt and I decided to do dinner at Red Lobster, because seriously, I had NOTHING in the house to make for dinner. If I would have remembered to take some fish out of the freezer, I could have made that with rice, but this was the most empty I have ever seen our house on food. Dinner at Red Lobster was nice. I had lobster rolls (which I always get) and a side salad. Yum. Watched the Tigers game during dinner and all the high schoolers who had just graduated walking around in their skimpy slightly nonappropriate outfits....It's crazy what teenagers wear these days, and let me tell you, I am totally aware I am aging myself by saying that. But really, there is a fine line between being classy and trashy and so many people are crossing way ovetr these days.......Ugh.

Saturday and Sunday we worked. Not the entire day, but large portions of it. Saturday, after work, we stopped at Sam's Club and ended up running into another attorney we work with on a lot of cases and a clerk from the court. This is the reason we avoid downriver for the most part--don't want to think about work when not at work. Running into them was fine, because we like this clerk and atty. But running into people who want to talk businss is NOT good. Luckily, these two did not, :). Came home and went to the store to buy more bird food because the birds were almost out again. It's insane how much they eat! Also bought flowers at Lowe's for my pots out front. Bought Zinnias for two of the pots, and for the other pot, bought festival spider mix gerbera daisies and floriline spider gerbera. Love, love, love them. I wanted something unique and they turned out so well. I took pics, but have not uploaded them yet. Sunday, after work, I grocery shopped. It's great to have food in our house again, let me tell you. Yay for a full pantry and frig.

We bought this book online about birds in Michigan. We have been writing down each bird we see in the backyard and it is up to 11 now. My fav are the cardinals, we have both male and female and I am crossing my fingers they lay eggs where I can watch the babies like I did with the robins....baby cardinals have GOT to be beyond adorable, right? And there is another one I really like called the Downey Woodpecker, it almost looks exotic with its really kewl colors.

Finally. Belize Break-Down.

The question of this trip seemed to be “What are you doing next?” Our response always was “We don’t know yet…” This was the most unplanned trip Kurt and I ever took. We did not reserve a room, did not write down an itinerary--we played everything by ear, and we loved it! I have done a trip report day by day, and we can’t wait to go back for a longer period. Oh, another quick note, the people in Belize were the nicest I have EVER met in my travels. When we got back to Miami and the US and encountered our first rude person, we quickly realized just how nice people in Belize were…..

All pics of the trip are on my Flickr page. Click here to see them.

Friday

Flights there were great. Stopped in Miami for a very short time (enough to get a quick snack and board again). American Airlines, thumbs up! J.

Arrived and got our rental car. Steve, the owner’s son, picked us up and took us to the place, he was really helpful and nice. We found out he is in school to be a lawyer, and he is a realtor, so Kurt asked him a bunch of questions about property in Belize, which he is interested in. Steve’s Mom was at the car place, and she is a realtor too, and gave us advice on where she thinks we would like to live, which is around Punta Gorda.

Left there, and headed to the Belize Zoo. Stopped and got gas, and for everyone complaining about gas prices, it’s almost $5 here per gallon. J. The zoo is known as being the best in Central America, and it was really kewl. We saw jaguars (black and spotted), pumas, ocelots, jaguarondis, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, tapir, peccaries, harpey eagle (which was one of the kewlest birds I have ever seen, really scary, they kill sloths for their main food), toucans, macaws (scarlet), and others. After this, we stopped and did two short hikes in Guanacaste National Park, which was really nice. Did not see any exciting animals there, but did see a lot of butterflies, birds, and lizards. After that, we were exhausted since we were going on like 4 hours of sleep from the night and our early flight. So, we stopped at this resort I read about called Caves Branch Jungle Resort. Our room was really, really kewl. It had a thatched roof and no electricity, except the ceiling fan. We had to use oil lamps. Which is really roughing it for Kurt and I. HAHA. Around our bed were all screens so you could look outside at the jungle and hear the sounds of the night while sleeping. Took some pics of the grounds while Kurt took a nap. The shower had a view of the jungle as well. Dinner was kewl, it was served buffet style and you sat with others staying at the place. We mostly talked to a couple from San Francisco, and a girl who was from D.C. but went to U of M for college. It was fun. We crashed after that, as we were totally exhausted.

Saturday

Got up early and checked out of Caves Branch. On the way there, Kurt stopped to help a turtle cross the road because he was worried about it. J. The drive here was gorgeous, all mountains and jungle. Headed to Cockscomb Basin National Park. Did several trails there. The first was called Wari Loop, and was 3.7 KM. We saw a lot of lizards, birds, and a kinkajou in the tree. After that, stopped and had a drink, then headed on another trail, which was like three trails in one that we kept following. This trail was marked “strenuous” and it really was because of the heat. Much of it on the way was uphill…….And, we ran out of water on the way back. Whoops. The bottom of the trail was this awesome waterfall. We saw a lot on this hike too, with the highlight being a herd of peccaries (which we only noticed because one of them snorted at us, LOL), an armadillo, and lots of birds and lizards. After this hike, we found another kewl resort to stay at, called The Lodge at Big Falls. We got there and were literally the only guests staying. The owners were really kewl and three cute dogs. We hiked around their property, which is right on the Rio Grande (river). Our room was really kewl here too, thatched roof cabana, with hammocks and chairs on the front porch. Restaurants were almost nonexistent in this area. We stopped at two, before finding one finally. The first, which said “Bar and Restaurant” on the sign, told us they did not serve food unless you called in advance. OK…..the second, only served fried and bbq chicken, oh, and pork. The third, had one vegetarian option, so we stayed there. The owner was really kewl, sat with us through dinner telling us stories about the area, with the help of his parrot, Jerry. Jerry said many things to us and was adorable. He could say Hello, How Are You, Come Here, Goodbye. After dinner, we came back to the room.

Sunday

Got up early this morning and headed towards Punta Gorda, which is the biggest city in Southern Belize, and also the poorest. Drove through down, the views from town into the ocean were spectacular and I predict this will be the next place to build from big resorts, etc., or that Americans will move to. After Punta Gorda, decided to drive to a national reserve, which we never actually got to really. Well, we did, but there were no hiking trails and such, and we could not figure out how to get in except driving. We drove a little bit and gave up. We were really in the middle of nowhere though, LOL, and it was an awesome jungle drive. It seemed like nobody had driven there in weeks from the buildup of grass, plants, etc. Next, we drove to Baranco, which is further South than Punta Gorda and right on the water. Really pretty, but really poor area. Next, we went to Laguna, which had this really kewl little walk in another reserve which is known for birding. In the wet season, there is a creek that flows under the bridge we walked on. Anyway, it was really hot out, so we did not spend a lot of time there since it was totally in the sun, but the walk was really nice. After that, we started to drive back towards the Cayo District, where we wanted to spend the remainder of our trip. Stopped on the way back at Blue Hole National Park. Saw the Blue Hole swimming area, which was kewl--like a swimming pool in a cave, kinda. Hiked this hellacious trail, talk about strenuous without warning. The trail was called “Hummingbird Trail…” Yea. Practically all uphill and freaky. We saw three snakes, two ON the trail, which we had to wait for them to move so we could continue. Two were green vine snakes, about 4 feet long and the other was a snake with a white head, no idea on that one. It was in a hole though. The first snake, I guess I was not paying attention because I walked right by it, almost stepping on it. Whoops. Kurt about died since he is terrified of snakes, LOL. Got done with that and headed to St Herman’s cave, which was VERY kewl. Walked to that, saw the cave, walked another trail out (all uphill, I swear, we were getting our exercise this day) and headed on the road again. Decided to drive to San Ignacio because there are a ton of resorts outside of the area. We picked one called Chaa Creek. Ummm, nicest place I have ever stayed and so freaking relaxing. Loved it. Our room was called a cottage and was gorgeous. Had a huge deck with hammocks and furniture that overlooked the Macal River. Breathtaking place. Had dinner and drinks and were going to do a night walk, but it rained and we decided against it and just chilled, walked around the property, and headed to bed.

Monday

Today, we started off by doing an early morning bike walk with a guide. We saw SOO many birds and got to use our new binoculars. My fav we saw was this bird called a motmot that we have never seen before, and of course, the toucans. We also saw a lot of other birds, including two really kewl woodpeckers, vultures, robins, yellow birds (that really was their name), and others. After that, had breakfast and then Kurt took a nap while I went to the butterfly and nature exhibit at the hotel. The butterfly exhibit was beyond kewl. I actually got to see two butterflies emerge from their cocoons, and learned about their growth and such. I stayed in the butterfly house for a long time, taking shots. After that, went and woke Kurt up and we went for a hike on the medicine trail at the hotel. The medicine trail has different trees and greenery marked with what they are used for in real life. It was pretty kewl. At the end, there was a lady who sold herbal remedies for ailments, and I was going to buy one for migraines, but ended up not. We then left the resort and went into San Ignacio, which could be considered a “big” town, but only has about 6000 people, LOL. We walked around the town, talked to a realtor, walked in some little stores. We then went to a nearby botanical garden, and got a flat tire which we changed. Ugh. Went back to the resort and hiked another trail down to the river, which was really relaxing. There were sooo many hummingbirds on the trail. It was beautiful. We sat by the water for a while relaxing and enjoying the sun setting then went back to our room to shower and head to dinner. After dinner, finally got to go on the nightwalk with a guide. We saw a bunch of things, including two different kind of possum, armadillos, scorpions, tarantulas, other spiders, etc. It was fun to walk around in the dark looking for things. Went back to the room and laid in the hammocks for a while, then went to bed.

Tuesday

Got up this morning and packed and headed to the airport. Both flights again were awesome, and I am now a fan of American Airlines for sure.

Craziness

This week has been beyond busy, indescribably busy. I can't even put it into words. I think I have returned and answered at least 100 phone calls, maybe more, and that is in 2 days. Sometimes I need a vacation as soon as I get back FROM vacation.

I started working on a trip report and my pics last night, and will try and finish tonight and post.

We were supposed to be going up north for a graduation this weekend, but now cannot because of our work schedule next week. We have 40, yes you read right, hearings in one week. We need to prepare for them this weekend. Ugh.