Heading back to La Manzanilla!

Having two homes has some challenges. Now I realize this is the first year we've done this but I have to say, one month prior to leaving La Manzanilla we spent a fair amount of time getting the house "ready for summer." Now that we are leaving Denver we've spent the last month obsessing about what we “need” to take back with us. By my estimates we’ve spent 2 months out of this year in one place but thinking about getting to the other.

We are driving our 2004 Toyota truck- no extended cab and there are 3 of us, but that will be another blog post.

So we have the truck with a topper on it and we’ve availed ourselves of the opportunity to go crazy filling it up! Grill, rugs, cookware, blender, knives, printer, toiletries all this stuff! I was trying to get to a point where I could say, “if you have to store it, you don’t need it.” Boy have I fallen off that wagon!

Goals for next year- don’t spend so much time thinking about what’s coming next and let go of this ridiculous idea that life in Mexico is made better by bringing my life (stuff) from Denver with me.

Marketing La Manzanilla

For those of you who don't know it...I own and operate website about La Manzanilla I built the site about two years ago and I've had success driving traffic to the site and making a little money along the way. I wrote all the copy, took or purchase the photos, designed the site layout and I spend a good amount of time marketing it.

I have, on a few occasions, seen my copy on other people's sites and those people never offer to link back to my site or to give me credit, can you believe it?

Once again, someone has pilfered my work. They have set-up a website using a URL that is so close to mine I'm sure it was done purposefully to take advantage of the brand I’ve promoted. Wonder if they will contact me and ask permission before they borrow my copy. I’m guessing not. What do you think?

Went fishing, got sick, had a blast!

There's a local expat, Steve, who offers 3.5 hour fishing tours so we decided to try it. Steve’s fun to talk with, he’s lived here in La Manzanilla for 30 plus years, his mom and 2 brothers are also here.

It was a beautiful morning although I spent most of it on my back at the front of the boat trying not to “toss my cookies.”

The boys, on the other hand, had a marvelous time reeling in fish. They caught about 25 Spanish Mackerels and I was well enough to snap a few photos but not well enough to capture the event on video.

I did end up hurling over the side, which made me feel better and I even managed to bring in one fish myself. We’ve been back for 5 hours and I still feel like I’m on the boat.

Next time I’ll take the Dramamine before I start feeling queasy!

Our new house in La Manzanilla

After 7 months of living in a one-bedroom apartment we finally found and moved into a house!

It's perfect for us, 2 bedrooms/2 baths and 3 blocks from beach.

We've been here about 3 weeks and have already hosted friends from Denver. We have a plastic table and 4 chairs but hey if it's good enough for the locals it's good enough for us!

We just bought one of everything from the vivero (garden store) in town and are now busy planting the backyard, which was several large trees and otherwise dirt when we moved in.

A few pictures of the back- including our resident rooster and a photo of the Primavera tree in front of the house.

You say goodbye, I say hello

This is just an observation.

When we in the US pass each other on the street we smile and say, “hello.”

Here in La Manzanilla when you pass someone they say, “Adios” or “goodbye.”

I think it has to do with the eternal optimism of the Americans. Where as Mexican history is not one of optimism but more of oppression.

“Hello” or “goodbye” as a greeting. What’s the significance?

La Manzanilla kids don't like carrots

Every 24 days we are responsible for bring "Refugerio" or lunch for the 24 kids in Lyle's kinder class.

We've done Spaghetti- big hit.

Chicken and rice- not such a big hit-we didn't cook the rice correctly and is was mushy.

This time my husband and I thought we'd do PB&J sandwiches on whole wheat, apple slices and carrot sticks. Yes, before you gasp about the peanuts, I talked with the teacher peanut allergies, she'd never heard of such a thing as an allergy to peanuts.

We show up with our lunch and served it up. Only 2 of the 24 kids opted for the carrot sticks and one was our kid!

Conclusion- Kinder kids in La Manzanilla don't like carrots and you are not going to make any friends by serving them.

When I shared this story with a client, her advice, "Twinkies, baby!"

That gringo kid speaks Spanish

Yes, it's true. My little gringo speaks Spanish. We had a babysitter last night and I overheard him telling her all about his adventures as new bike rider.

The other day we were walking through town and we stopped to chat with some friends. I was explaining that we had all been sick and how Lyle had a bad cough and we hadn't been to the beach in a few days. She said something to me and I didn't quiet get it so I responded, "como?" Lyle turned to me and said, "Mom, she said it's ok if I go to the beach but I should not get in the water."

Rick and I are coming along nicely, but Lyle is rocketing along.