Feels good to sit and do nothing, literally, after this very long, very emotionally hectic week. Work was really zonkers today. Whew. The election made our home especially *spicy* this week. Ya know, lil ole liberal me. Good ol' conservative Belov-Ed. Good times. Good times. :-) Even though we agreed to disagree on our choice for the bestest in the worldest leader, we still agreed on pretty much every issue on our California ballot. Funny how that works, huh?
Weird, last week at this time I was in Puerto Vallarta with my office, hoopin' it up in the nightlife out there. (It was effing HOTTTT out there!!! Nasty hot!) Tonight I'm listening to Tinsley Ellis, surfing the 'net, watching TV on mute, hanging with my anipals. Mmmmmm, guess which Friday night was/is happier for me? If you know me, ya guessed right.
Puerto Vallarta was definitely breathtaking. First, because it was humid as all hell and I felt like I was suffocating from the heat sometimes.
Second, because it is a very beautiful, tropical place.
And third, because in the midst of all that luxury and nature's blinding beauty, the profound poverty I witnessed at every turn just took my breath away. It was just the humans surviving in poverty, it was the hundreds and hundreds of dogs I saw panting, hungry, thirsty, just aimlessly wandering the streets. Funny, I didn't see any stray cats. It amazed me how my human mind worked at trying to reconcile the vastly different worlds I was witnessing. I couldn't bring myself to take pictures. It felt wrong. I couldn't do it. I did give a buttload of pesos away to beggars and street kids. I was saving the pesos because I wanted to buy some really nice stuff for Ed and my family, but I ended up getting him 4 tshirts for 100 pesos, which was roughly $8.
My bosses villa at the penthouse level, looking down at the other villas (and their pools) below us:
Wedding being held over the villa next door. This was the view from my bedroom window:
The outdoor bar:
My favorite reading spot. Lonesome margarita for one. I had an umbrella I moved everywhere with me that's not in this shot:
Dog in back o' truck, nicely caged in and secure:
Not so much for the kiddies though. Mexican version ofchildren's car seats:
Pink house with veranda:
The ocean...hiked down there every morning. The climb back to the villa was at about a 70 degree incline...I'm not even shittin' you! It was STEEP!!!
I don't know if you can tell, but there are no walls in the villa. I'm not kidding. There are no structural walls that enclose a room. Not a ONE. The entire villa is open air. Soooo, at 3 a.m. this is what I was listening to last Friday night while trying to fall asleep:Absence makes the heart grow fonder. That is so damned true. I was thrilled to a million pieces to be home. Missed my baby Milo bear. That's his toy du jour, a stuffed cat we won at the Halloween party. Kind of reminds me of Dudley. :-)
My Golden babies. Milo luuuuurves to cuddle up to Achilles when they're sleeping. This picture melts my heart. Like our new carpet? It's called Bahama Buff. Soooo cushy and soft. Which is why the boys like to sleep on it rather than the memory foam doggies beds I bought for them!
Glad not only to be home with my Golden babies, but also those of my friend Maria. She owns a fabulous wine bar downtown called The Grape. That's her Dolce climbing up on me, and that's her Bacchus sitting on my right side. My Milo bear is resting against my left thigh. I was in Golden heaven!
Since we still dont' have our dining room table set, we had dinner on our coffee table with Maria. Sometimes she comes over and we all go to the dog park together. This night she and her furbabies stayed for dinner. The boys didn't mind the lower seating arrangements...easier to swipe food while the humans aren't looking! From left to right it is Dolce, Maria, Achilles, Milo, Ed and Bacchus.
Here is my Achilles Sweetface. I LOVE HIM!!! Sometimes I look at him and I'm so reminded of Nick that my stomach just drops to my knees. My affection for my dogs sometimes takes over me so madly that I want to hug them until they BURST. I am not even kidding. Scary, huh? Hope I don't ever make them POP like giant zits. Sometimes I give them very hard squishy hugs. And kisses. And more hugs..... I might need help. ;-)
Sleeping Golden angels:Well, our backyard is coming along with its landscaping. We've been having such trouble with the Spicoli of landscapers, but it is almost done. I swear, this guy must spend about 70% of his day stoned out of his freaking mind. But, he lays some mean ass sod.
I ordered some stuff from Armstrong Nursery today:
-Pomegranate bare-root tree
-O'Neal Blueberry bush
-Perlette green grapes
-Bannuka grapes (or was it Concord?)
-A "Beloved" hybrid tea rose bush (yah, go ahead and try to guess WHY I ordered that one! I've wanted to get a Beloved rose for some time now, but their "crop" was just not a good one until this year. Fitting, don't you think? Tomorrow is our 3 month anniversary. If you're reading this, I love you baby dolly. Pretty neat of you to marry me. If I do say so myself. :-) I promise, I'll take care of Beloved the Rose as well as I take care of you. (I'll still leave dishes in the sink though.)
-An "America" climbing rose for the western wall of our backyard (because I'm feeling VERY patriotic this week!)
-Madagascar jasmine
-Honeysuckle
-Clematis vine (which always makes me think of CLITORIS...sorry, it just does.)
My new plants and trees will arrive in January or February. I have to wait for the spring to order my lime and fig trees, and my Morrocan blood-orange tree. Hopefully next year we'll get a nice outdoor "living room" set for our new rooftop deck. I want to sit up there with my boys, enjoy the San Diego air, and look down at our garden a.k.a. "Little Kabul".
My grandmother had a pomegranate and fig tree in her courtyard back in Kabul. We had so many wonderful fruit trees and vines. Never without fresh fruits and veggies. I'm also having Spicoli put in an 8 X 3 foot herb garden bed. I just hope that my little recreation of memories will live up to Bobo's beautiful home and garden. I wish I had just one little picture of our home back there. It was so precious.
It's almost 10:30 now. Maybe I'll have some Halloween candy and watch a movie. Hope you're Friday night was as peaceful as mine.
7 comments:
I just LOVE your posts..!
There's always SOO much to comment on! (Where to begin!) :-)
Your Achilles and Milo are just precious - such sweet, sweet faces - give them both hugs from me, Ruby, and Diva. :-)
I can SOOO relate to what you said about politics. Hubster voted for McCain and is just NOT yet onboard with Obama.... we have had some spirited discussions this past week and finally agreed to just NOT talk about politics. :-)
As far as your trip to Mexico - the pictures of your resort were lovely but yes, the poverty there is grinding, isn't it? I've been to Mexico 3 times - the most recent time when Hubster and I went to Cozumel for our 10th anniversary. I was VERY aware of the painful dichotomy between the "shiny clean lovely" tourist areas and then, just a few hundred yards away, the terrible poverty. Very sobering. It made me feel guilty when I was enjoying posh surroundings, nice food and wine, etc.
Had to laugh at the "Jeff Spicoli" reference re: your landscaper! I can SOO see him! (But I bet he does a good job with the landscaping, yes??) :-)
We had a clematis in our last house and YES, it made me think of clitoris, too! LOL!
We also had blueberry bushes - let me give you a hint - if you plant a couple of different varieties it helps with fruit production (due to cross-polination). We had 3 varieties and had a really amount of blueberries.
Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend! Enjoying just "being".... :-)
Egad. Ignore those typos.... that's what I get while trying to have a conversation with my daughter (who is trying to parlay two more hours at the slumber party from last night!) while typing at the same time....!
We women never STOP multi-tasking, do we? :-)
Anyway, ENJOY just being this weekend, KBL. Hope you get plenty of time to relax and just BE...
:-)
Later, gator.
That picture of Achilles looks like a little boy who just got a haircut! can you see what I mean? I want to hug them til they pop too. They are so sweet. I love how they lay together with their backs touching. They are such happy boys who love their lives and their momma and poppa sooooo much. Could you imagine NOT adopting them both when you guys were deciding on getting another dog after Nick?
Tom and I went to Puerta Vallarta once several years back and I echo your sentiments on everything. So beautiful but the contrast from the extreme wealth to the dirt poor is hard to witness. And OH GOD don't get me started on all the starving dogs. That was soooo hard to see and then have to walk away from. Makes me really appreciate our country's laws and respect for the animals.
I'm so glad you made it home safe and sound. And, thanks for the birthday wishes to Sexy Lexie!! I'll pass them on when he gets back from CSJ's house.
What beautiful furbabies they are. You and Ed look so cozy, comfortable and happy with your boys. Everyone's blissed out; I love it.
Your villa was amazingly lovely, but I understand what you mean about the poverty. I have felt so guilty about it (when I've been there) that I don't like to vacation in Mexico, now. I know that tourism supports their economy, but it's so hard to indulge myself, when there is so much suffering all around. My mind starts to whirl into what I should be doing to help, etc.
I would love to hug those furbabies! When we went to run errands last night, my black wool coat was covered with long, wavy gold fur. I was wondering what it was from, and then I remembered: I wore it to see Wrigley & Chumley last week. You must go through a lot of lint rollers, or never wear black! Love to all.
dEAR mILO & aCHILLeS,
lATTE hERE. lIgER & i WoULD lOVE tO mEeT U BoTh, bUT No oPENiNG yR mOUtHs & ShOwING uS yR hUgE TEeTh. i tHINK lIGEr WOuLD FIt In tHErE; nOT Me (lATtE) CUz iM A hUGE cAT. iM THE kINg OF bEASts, mOM AlWaYs sAYs. lIGeR Is THe sWEeTeSt CReAtUre EvEr MaDe, sHE SaYS (YuK -mAMa'S bOY 4 SUre). AnYwAyS hOPE u cAn ViSiT.
lAtTe
My favorite kind of Friday night is at home. With no agenda. That is the best.
The mexico trip sounds like...a trip. :)
The place you stayed at looks like where they filmed "sex in the city" the movie, not the show.
Your boys are adorable....glad you are doing well.
Take care,
Suz
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