Bacon anyone??

Well even though I am not allowed to eat much bacon I do love the smell of bacon. Okay I love the smell of all meat :-)

Funny thing here in Belize there is very little smoked meat. Ham, bacon anything like that is more expensive and hard to come by. There is bologna and hotdogs, both which taste really good, mom always shares with me! The liver if you are a liver fan is to die for!

Something else I miss is the doggy treats. Coming from a country that has whole stores dedicated to spoiling me (and others like me) it is a bit of a culture shock to come to a country that has no dog treats. Not a milk bone, dental bone, beggin strip or snausage to be had. :-( So I miss the treats! Thats okay though mom and dad are missing there favorite treats too. There are Pringles here but mom has not bought any yet says it is healthier not too, but I think she really is feeling sorry for me that I have no treats so she is abstaining from treats for herself to make me feel better.

There is a little thing you can buy here that when you deep fry it, it puffs up and makes a crispy rice type treat. They sell them in bags in the stores back home but we do not remember the name. Luckily for us mom actually knew what it was when we saw them in bulk bags in the store and knew if she fried them they would turn into a treat. Who knew? Glad she knew this too, she said a friend showed her them when she was in college and so lucky us it is one of those strange things that do not confuse us here! Dad did not believe her she had to prove it.

Everyone is so friendly, and I think we are starting to slow down like the local Belizeans. Learning to relax and enjoy the sun and breeze. I love my daily walk! So do mom and dad I think. It is funny we walk at least a mile sometimes two miles a day and we are enjoying it! Imagine that mom and dad enjoying walking. I think it is easier to do when everyone does it and you fit in, your not the only person walking down the road for miles around. Something funny that we noticed was a lot of people riding there peddle bikes listening to there music, like playing the radio in the car. Makes us chuckle. 

Something we saw when we were on our walk was a home that had 'plywood for rent' it was funny. Not really unreasonable though as nothing we have seen was built with plywood. Slats and boards and bricks and cement. But no plywood.

A lot of people use corrugated steal for fencing. It think it is old roofing material and must be easy to come by. 

Although most people have cement and ironwork fences. They are very beautiful.

There is so much too see, (and smell) on our walks everyday.

Well off to see what the neighbour dogs are up too.
Bark at you later.

Sugar Ants

Wow it has been two weeks. I am settling in pretty good. Enjoying our daily walks and being able to sleep in the bed with mom and dad. It is a bit of a learning experience. Everyone is so less strict here! I can even go into the restaurants so I guess no health code to speak of :-)


We are combating sugar ants in the kitchen. They are persistent little buggers. Mom read that if you mix Borax and sugar and peanut butter it will kill the nest. But we have not found any Borax yet. Also corn meal kills them if you leave it out for them to eat and powdered sugar and baking soda. We are going to go get baking soda today.  Wiping the counters with vinegar or bleach constantly is supposes to help and seems to keep them down but we learned you have to have a special rag only for that if you use the dish rag it does not work because the dish rag becomes contaminated with sugars from the dirty dishes so all your doing is spreading around sugar when you wipe with a dirty dish rag. It sure inspires one to keep the kitchen clean anyway!

Other than that there really seems to be less bugs than there are back home that come into the house. A rare fly and I saw a little dead beetle once. I think that the lizards that live in the house maybe eat them all. They certainly are fun to watch, the lizards that is!


So as for people being less strict, there are so many things here that are different. I do not know if there is any electrical, building or plumbing code here at all. I don't think so. We were told that people leave there homes unfinished so they do not have to pay taxes because you do not have to pay taxes until your home is finished, so there are a lot of what look like unfinished homes here.

The neighbors house has the sink and shower water draining right on to the ground outside the house. Everything is just kind of hap hazard here. There are some really nice homes but there are also a lot of what we would consider shacks. Broken down and patched up with whatever is available. We can only imagine the plumbing and electrical in these homes.

The weather is still great we are getting used to the heat and it is actually quite cool at night and in the morning. It is still getting hot in the afternoon but not unbearable and we notice we are drinking way less water now than we were when we first came. I can actually see where once we have been here a few months we will need a jacket when it is chilly LOL 'chilly' hehe

We are off to the market again today. Have to get some fruit and some veggies for the chicken stew tonight. Plus we are out of rice so need to pick up some more rice.

Anyhoo off to get ready for the market!

Sniff ya later!

Shopping in Corozal

So I was up early with mom today and we played hide the frog squeaky, I love that game! It is good to play in the morning and later at night it gets hot during the day.

Shopping is an interesting experience here. We can find a lot of things but there are things you can't find. Everything is so readily available and plentiful in Canada. I can only imagine how exciting it is to come from here to a country like Canada and see so much stuff! Here when they say people live a simple life they sure do!

We are checking out prices and looking for things for our apartment that we move into in December. It's like a treasure hunt! There is no such thing as a department store here. The closest thing they have to one is called the A&R which carries, craft and school supplies, and household items like dishes and sheets. It is clean and modern and maybe the size of a dollar store back home. There is a pretty good variety of stuff but nothing like home. You have a choice of maybe two or three sets of pots (3 with lids) price ranging from $12 - $50 a set of dishes is running around $20 and a set of three frying pans can be from  $15 -$70 (that is our money) A queen size sheet set is going for $35-$60 a set, top and bottom sheet no pillow cases. No pillow cases, that's funny cause we have not found any bed pillows for sale anywhere in town yet either! We found some fancy Chinese pillows about the size of a bed pillow at one of the Chinese stores in town for $7. 50 each though. They are pretty too would not need a pillow case if you did not want one.  Lets see a set of cutlery ranges from $5-$15. Coffee cups and glasses are about $2 each.  Mixing bowls range from $3-$7 each and a juice jug can be had for $3-$5.

Small appliances like a coffee maker or a blender are running at about $40-$70 or more depending on where you look. We made a deal with our landlord who owns a furniture and appliance store to purchase these small appliances from him for half price when we move into our apartment. Our apartments is furnished but does not come with dishes and sheets and towels so we have to get some. When we leave we will ask our friend Carlos if we can store them at his house until we come back next year.

Mom found hangers at one store 10 for $1. 50 and clothes pins are around $1. 50 a package or 20-30 depending on the style. Face clothes and small hand towels are easy to find but larger bath towels seem to be non existent LOL. Good thing we brought two large towels with us when we came.

A lot of the local grocery stores are owned by the Chinese,  so there is a lot of Chinese themed items for sale. Personal items (everything from nail polish to hair ties) and clothing are very plentiful and not to expensive.

A broom and a mop are about $2.75 each one thing we have not found yet is a dust pan! I guess mom and dad just sweep the dirt out the door!

We can not find a digital clock anywhere there are some battery operated clocks but they do not last long in this weather I think cause there are 5 'dead' wall clocks hanging the the laundry room of our temporary apartment.

Sun screen and bug spray are very expensive here more than back in Canada for sure.  And brand names cost more money. Locally made products are cheaper.

We had to search for ground coffee, everyone drinks instant coffee here. There is no fresh cream to be had, but we heard the Mennonites sell it sometimes at the market. Refrigerated milk is rare mostly it comes in one of those square containers on the shelf. Mom wanted to make baked beans but no one has ever heard of molasses here.

As for frivolous things to decorate your house with you can pretty much forget it there are a few things but nothing like a good spoiled Canadian would expect to find. No huge store dedicated to kitchen, bedroom or living room decorating. We did notice a lot of Christmas decorations coming out at the A&R store though. Some of them are nice could be used year round!

We have not found any candles yet, for when the power goes out here which is quite often we hear. But we still have a few stores to look in. We have not even scratched the surface of a store in town called Cinty's! Imagine a hoarders house only no garbage! So much stuff to check out!  And we have not checked out the local hardwear stores yet. Who knows maybe they are the ones with pillows :=D

So there you have it shopping in Corozal! The one great thing for me is I get to go into every store mom and dad go into! Only one store has made me stay outside with dad, it was the local cell phone company when mom got the sim card for our phone!


Our friend Carlos and his wife are going to take us to the duty free zone so we can see what we can find there. Will let you know when we go!

Bark at you later gotta run!!

Apartment Hunting

So I am getting used to the heat here. It's not so bad once your body gets used to it. Our sleeping habits have changed, now we are so tired by 9:30 at night it is hard to stay up til 10 pm. Then we sleep until only 6. That's okay though because the sun comes up at 5:30 here and sun goes down at 6 pm.

We usually start our day by walking to the market. The market is about 7 blocks from our temporary house. We are here until December so we had to find an apartment for December until April.

Mom being her usual worry wort needed for us to find a place right away. So we looked at a few places. One was a lower level of a house. It was a two bedroom and had a huge new king size bed in the master bedroom, but the bathroom was a bit icky and the shower was plugged and the man was trying to unplug it. It was not the cleanest and it had no security bars on the windows. Which is weird cause the upstairs apartment had security bars but the one easier to break into on the bottom had none. There was a fence around it but only half of it was 7 ft tall the back half of it was only 5 ft tall so easy to jump over. Everyone has advice as you know and one lady told us to be sure to get an apartment or house with a fence and security bars on all the doors and windows. I guess considering that there is some poverty here mom and dad thought that would be some good advice. So although that house was only $350 a month we went looking some more. We looked at a REALLY NICE apartment on the second floor but sadly that one was not furnished so we are out of luck there because buying furniture to leave behind in 6 months is silly my mom says.



We then looked at another apartment two bedroom with security bars but the yard was pretty small for me and overgrown so who knows what would be hiding in the grass? This one was furnished to for only $450 a month.  But the yard scared me a bit, and we were quiet a ways away from the market and any stores so thank goodness we never took that one. We had a tip on a 'suite' in a hotel so thinking suite you think kitchen living area, bedroom bathroom right? Wrong it was just a really big bedroom no place to cook no balcony so that was a definite No. One think mom insists on is way to go sit outside, she spends a lot of time outside, being stuck inside is not her idea of a good time!

So then we went to check out a tip that a indie man that ran a furniture store had rentals, this man did have some rentals. The one he showed us was a HUGE 4 bedroom apartment it has to be at least 2500 sq ft is not bigger. It has two full bathrooms (one of the bathrooms is as huge about 20'x30' the walk in shower is 10'x15')  and two terraces and 3 balconies. There are lots of security bars on all the windows and doors and it is on the second floor. It is actually the whole second floor of the building, under the apartment is a restaurant. Would not want to have to heat the monster in Canada but here you only need power and water.  It is way to big for us in reality, but the price was right only $650 a month furnished, it is a bit more expensive than the first two ground floor apartments but it is worth paying the extra for peace of mind, and there is tons of room for guests if we get company. Plus it is right on the bay of Corozal. When I say right on the bay I mean you sit on your balcony and only see water you can  not see the ground under the balcony it is very cool. Also it is just 3 blocks from the market and downtown shopping is only a block away. So we rented that one. It needs a real good cleaning cause no one has lived in it for awhile but he said someone will go in and clean it and if it is not clean enough we can hire someone for $15 a day to clean it for us.

It was a lot easier to find a place to rent than mom expected. Dad is always pretty laid back and does not worry to much about it though so he never stresses like mom does.

So we have to get some dishes and sheets and things for the apartment. We have been checking around a bit to see prices. Some places the price of things is just the same as living in Canada if you buy stuff at the dollar store back home. There is no Dollar store here though so that is sad, there should be. So we are checking out the price of things. Today we are going to the A&R store someone says they have a lot of stuff. We have also been told that it is cheaper to shop in Chetumal in Mexico across the boarder and then someone else will tell us it is not because we have to pay import tax on everything we buy there, so we have mixed reviews on that one.  So if we can find everything cheap enough here in Corozal we will purchase it here. We made a deal with the man we rented the apartment from to buy our coffee maker and toaster half price so that is great. Not sure if there is a second hand store here to purchase dishes or not we have to ask around about that one. Most people are very very nice so it is easy to find things out.

One thing you don't really realize when your in a place that has a lot of fresh tap water is the amount of water you drink and use for cooking. One of those blue water jugs at home on a water cooler will last sometimes a week even two at home but here they last two days at the most. Plus mom and dad drink way more water cause it is hot. The lady we are renting from currently says that the town water is chlorinated so should be safe to drink the town people drink it. Mom says she is going to boil it for drinking water when we move into the apartment just to be safe, cause she does not want to lug a big water jug every two days to the apartment, as we will probably only have one or two jugs at a time because there is a $35 deposit on the jugs but a refill it is only $2.50. Dad saw a water delivery service so maybe we can check out the cost on that.

Shopping at the market is sometimes hard for mom cause she wants to be fair to everyone. She has three vendors she likes so she tries to buy something from all three of them when we go. Yesterday we went to buy our meat from the butcher at the market but he was not there so we have to go back to the market today for our meat.

Mom wanted to make baked beans but we can not find molasses anywhere so far. Most things we have found though and we still have not checked out all the stores by far! The thing I like best is that all the stores let me come in with mom and dad and everybody loves me :-D, I am starting to get used to people wanting to touch me. Kind of resigned myself to it, cause everyone wants to touch me. But do not try and come up to me in my yard or my house I Will Still Tear You Apart! Don't think I have gone soft or anything like that! Okay no laughing allowed!!

We went to the Chinese restaurant across the street on Friday and mom and dad ordered Fried Chicken it was $2.50 each and was better than Kentucky Fried Chicken mmm mmm mmm. Hamburgers there are only $1.50 each so next time we will try them. We are still looking for somewhere to buy fry jacks though.

Pop seems a bit more expensive but I guess it is not it is just the same price as back home. Mom buy Cherry Juice for .50 cents a bottle she says it is really good. The bologna is really tasty here and so are the hot dogs and cheap too, $1 per package. Plus the Happy Cow cheese mom loves is .75 a package.

So we are looking forward to going to the A&R store today. Will keep you posted on how that goes.

Sniff ya later.

Holy Hot

Hey I made it!

Two plane rides later I am in this country called Belize. The plane ride was okay not sure I liked the up and down part but all in all it was tolerable.  At least I was used to being crowded, my mom and dad were squished in like sardines LOL. The second flight had seats closer together, good thing it was a short flight. When we got to the airport in Belize and they looked at our bags Moms bag had sunscreen all over the inside. She forgot to close the top and it leaked out so it was kind of yucky. Then I had to go see the man in the room. I almost thought I was not going to get in because he did not recognize the health certification form that we brought along but he was okay in the end. It only cost $30 for me to stay for the winter. But I have to get a new doctor exam before we go home. I was so proud of my self though I was so quiet that no one even knew I was there on the plane not a bark or a whine. Mom could of snuck me into the country! No one would of known, good thing she is honest though I guess, she would probably have a heart attack if she tried to do something illegal LOL.

So did I mention it is hot here! Wowzers! On the bright side no frozen feet! Our first apartment is awesome, nice and big for me to run around and three big balconies! I can see out on all sides. There are a lot of dogs here and I even seen a cat! We went grocery shopping and to the market and I was allowed in all the stores with dad carrying me it was crazy! We bought a lot of stuff and last night mom even gave me the gizzard from the chicken...... mmmm mmmm mmmm! Next time she said I can have the liver too!!!

Yesterday mom was sitting on the deck and dad and I heard a HUGE BANG and we ran outside to see what was the matter and the plastic chair she was sitting on was in pieces under her and she was sitting on the ground! It had shattered under her! The weather here made it brittle and it just broke into pieces. Mom was so embarrassed but we were just worried she was okay it sounded like a gun shot! That must happen a lot here and they recognized the sound of the chair breaking 'cause about 15 minutes later the gardener came up with a new chair and took the old chair away, dad said he broke the chair so mom would not be any more embarrassed. That's my dad always looking out for my mom!

We can't leave any food out here, dad left my food on the floor for me like we do back home and all these teeny tiny little ants swarmed it! I could not even eat it so now we have to keep my food in a covered container til it is time to eat.

We are looking around at places to stay in December til April. We looked at two one is a little house, it was okay but it did not have a very nice yard and the cupboards were not very clean. The man was cleaning it and said if we took it it would be a lot cleaner when we moved in but we are not sure we want it. We also looked at a really nice apartment we all loved on the second floor but it did not have any furniture in it no fridge or stove either so unless they will furnish it we probably wont get that one. Mom and dad would like to be on the second floor though if they have to have an apartment better breeze up there and a bit more secure not so many windows to worry about. So we are still looking we have until January to find another place. The lady who we are renting from here is very helpful and is calling some people too. She is quite interesting she was very worried about the tops of her bedside tables, stressing that we should not scratch them at all, so there goes my idea of dad getting something sharp and drawing pictures in the top. Spoil all my fun!

Well now I want to have a nap it is getting hot again.
Yap at ya later!

Nervous

Okay I admit I am pretty nervous. Really. I have never been on one of those air planes. Closest I have ever gotten was the parkade outside of the airport, waiting in the truck for mom and dad to do something. I have to admit I did not care for that at all so not sure on my thoughts on the airport and the airplane. I don't think I will be able to look out the window so knowing exactly where we are really depends on guess work on my part. So I Guess I can imagine I am just in the truck going somewhere in my little kennel.

Tomorrow morning this time I will have experienced a whole new world! Oh can't wait. Mom says it only takes about a day to get where we are going. Two car rides and two flights. So that should be not to bad. And since Mom and Dad have both done this before we should be good! Although they have never taken me with them before so this will be new for all of us.

We were looking up on the website that the Houston Airport is supposed to have a potty place for me to go.I sure hope so! Wow what will I do if there is no potty place until we get to Belize! Mom put a potty pad in my kennel for me so I won't be too embarrassed if I have to make a potty before we find a spot somewhere along the way. that way all she has to do is take it out and put a fresh one down. I do hate it when my bed smells like an outhouse! Ewww you know I do have a pretty sensitive nose you know. And plus its embarrassing to have to potty in my kennel!

So we are up way to early! This part I don't like much either, I am pretty sure mom is not enjoying the early sojourn either. She does not do mornings very well at all! I will help her get through it though no one can resist my cute bright and bushy face first thing in the morning!

Well we are off to the airport soon, so I will let you know how our wonderful adventure goes today! Ooooo fun and excitement!

Cheers

Sniff you on the other side!!

Two more sleeps

So I am getting a bit nervous. Only two more sleeps before we are on a plane for Belize. I have never been on a plane before. We have to go through security too! OH not feeling good.

Porsha is at our friends house now. I kinda miss her but at least I have mom and dad. I think she will be okay she has lots of friends there to play with and keep her company. Me well I guess from what I hear I get to play with the iguanas there are supposed to be lots and some of them even come into the house to visit! That should be cool.

It snowed here for a couple days and boy was it cold! Would have froze my noogers .... if I had some to freeze that is. I will not miss that for sure if what mom and dad say is true and it is warm all the time where we are going.  I hope I like it. Six months seems like a long time but then when you turn around it will be time to come back again I think. It was like this summer one minute we were planning all of our events and the next we were sitting there wondering where all the time got too.

We spent a few days at the acreage. It was not too bad really this time. Morgan left me alone mostly which I like. Dylan is interesting not sure what to make of him yet, he smells nice anyway! He is not as threatening as Morgan but I reserve the right to reserve judgment on whether he will be okay or not.

So 36 hours and we are off on a new adventure.
I will for sure let everyone know how that goes!

Going to go and have a bit of sleep now

Here's barking at you!

Nothing like a good old fashioned ostracizing!!

We are one week away from our winter get away!

Mom got up this morning (really early I must add!) guess she could not sleep and decided to check her lotto ticket.  She was enjoying that know that second of excitement you get just imagining maybe just maybe you might have won the lottery (oh my god what would I do with the money? It would be so great to pay off all the bills, I would give all my family some money and not have to worry about money again. Mom and dad could buy me a whole bunch of NEW Stuffies!!! And treats lots and lots of treats!) sometimes you put off checking if for weeks because then there is still the possibility you have won! And then the crushing disappointment that you did not win and the many moments of disappointment afterwards. And you swear you are not wasting your money again. Just good old fashioned hard work will get you what you want! But of course mom always breaks down after a few weeks and buys another one cause you never know! 

Today we have to winterize the motorhome. For those that don't know, probably most of you, we live in the motorhome in the summer here. Mom and dad sold everything the shop and the house and everything and bought a motorhome and outfitted a trailer to do our work out of and we live on the road in the summer. Mom and dad are pretty young to be able to do this I think. Our motorhome is pretty nice, 35' with two slide outs. Kitchen livingroom in the front with a full 18' slide on that area and then a bathroom with a shower and a bedroom in the back with a queen size bed. It is very nice. A little chilly if the temperature drops below zero I must say! Not winterized for that for sure. But really nice otherwise. Bigger than some peoples apartments for sure and we got all the outdoors to enjoy where ever we are.

We used the motorhome to pull the trailer to where we had events to work this summer but mom was getting tired of always moving around with it. It gets kind of old to be parking setting up for a few days or a week or so if your lucky and then tearing down and moving again. The worst is when you could stay parked for more than a week but you can't because you are not hooked up to sewer so you have to tear down drive to a sewer dump and then drive back and set up. It does get old after awhile. 

So we found a spot at the end of summer to park the motorhome  and leave it parked all year and we will be using it as our home base. We had to get a bigger truck to pull the trailer and now we have to get a truck camper for the back of the truck for when we are on the road working on the weekends but the good thing is we get to go home and our motorhome is set up AND hooked up to the sewer! That is the best part no more having to drive to dump the smelly sewer. 

So we got invited to sign up for the Thanksgiving pot luck dinner at the place we are parked. Okay I did not get invited mom and dad did (it's okay though cause I don't like it when they take me and make me be nice to everyone) although dad does not like to be nice to everyone either especially when they are dick heads and treat mom and him like they have a disease or something. You know it is always a bit unnerving to go to something where you don't know anyone really as we have not had a chance to get to know anyone out here yet. You walk into the room and no one says anything to you, no one says 'hi good to see you could come' or even smiles at you to let you know your welcome in this place. And you find a place to sit and everyone as they drift in sits far enough away from you so they don't have to talk to you cause OMG we don't know you! If your not part of the local 'clique' whatever that might be (but which happens to be the local quad owning and driving gang) you are not worth talking too. Not sure if it is because people are scared to talk to new people or if mom and dad just scare them LOL. Dad with his 200 tattoos or mom with her weird piercings (okay moms piercings are not that crazy a lip piercing and a nose piercing everyone has those right? No wrong no one there even had a nose piercing, weird! Along with moms 100 tattoos, but they did both cover most of there tattoos up as it was a bit chilly so you could not see most of them yesterday. So I guess they went and sat in the middle of the room at the middle of a long table by themselves and everyone came in and as they came in they sat everywhere but beside or across from them. So lucky for mom and dad they had lots of elbow room to eat and all those other stupid people where all crowded together. There were 6 empty chairs in the whole place and guess what?!! They were all around my mom and dad. The worst part I guess was when dad went to the bathroom and mom was sitting all by herself and a guy came over and ask if the chairs around her were all empty so he could take them to his table for his friends, the worst part about that was obviously he did not know my dad was sitting there or he would have known that chair was taken and the other sad and horrible part is if dad had not been there and mom was sitting ALL ALONE in a room full of 100 people those people would have left her there all alone AND taken all the chairs away around her leaving her sitting in the middle of the table in the middle of the room ALL ALONE. People are just rude and sick if you ask me. Nothing like being made to feel separated. One lady did stop and talk to them (out of 100 people) which was really nice, but after about 15 minutes you could tell she felt uncomfortable that mom and dad actually were talking to her and kept trying to drift away so she could go talk with her friends, and one lady snuck over when no one she knew was looking and said it was nice they could come. They sat there for two hours all by themselves. Mom said the food was really good, but I am pretty sure they will not be going back to another 'community function' so they can feel nice and ostracized again.  Nothing like a good old fashioned ostracizing to make you appreciate being alone!! I guess they should have expected it though because everyone is really nice and waves at us when we are out for walks or driving by and they are alone but once they get into there groups everyone pretends they don't see us when we walk by or they stare right at us and don't even smile even when mom or dad smiles at them as if to say 'how dare you walk here, who are you and what are you doing walking around me and my space'. I wish mom would let me go over and bite them all, rude people! Bunch of hill billy red necks all getting together to go quadding in the bush. Yes I have a right to judge them on only what I can see because they are judging my mom and dad on only what they can see!!

So mom and dad pretty much stick to themselves mostly cause it is not fun to be ignored and ostracised and looked at like there is something wrong with you. If these closed minded people just took two minutes to get to know mom and dad they would know they are kind, friendly and even funny people, who would help anyone if they could.

So anyway we are winterizing our motohome today, that means draining all the water and putting antifreeze in it for the winter. Don't like the antifreeze it is so yucky tasting in the spring after you come home even after it is rinsed out. We already took all the freezables to my dads sisters for the winter. Today we are on the road again.

7 days til we leave for Belize! Good to know everyone was really nice their to mom and dad I guess talked to them and were friendly so we are all looking forward to that!

Anyway gonna try and get a few more winks in. Growl at ya later :-D

Self imposed solitary

We are pretty solitary people my mom and dad and I. Porsha is the crazy social one, she loves everyone and always wants to make friends. I know mom wishes she was like Porsha sometimes just easy going, friendly and not worried about anything much.

You would think because of the way my mom and dad look and the job they do that they would be crazy fun party animals or something. Most people that become our friends seem to either want something for free or they think we will be crazy fun to party with. Haha the jokes on them. First what mom and dad do they do it to make a living so they very rarely give it away for free. They used to though. If you were a good friend they would give free stuff to you for your birthdays or even a lot just cause it made them feel good to be able to give and it made the other person happy. Now not so much, been used and tossed away like so much garbage to many times to remember. Then there are the times people showed up on there birthdays got there free stuff and then when mom or dad would invite them to a birthday party for each other everyone is OMG just toooo busssy that day, even if you suggest several different days! Or another one is when they get what they want and then they find a reason to be mad and stop talking to you and being your friend.  It is a great way to get out of returning a favour, or a free gift. A lot of  'friends' over the years have gotten so cocky about the 'surprise spur of the moment free birthday gifts' that they even start asking 'what can I get this year for my birthday?' Totally forgetting that they were 'just way to busssy' to attend mom and dads birthdays the year before. All this just reinforcing my dads outlook 'people are only nice to you when they want something' that my mom has been trying to change for years.  Then they wonder why mom and dad quit talking to them. So I guess if mom and dad wanted a ton of friends to make themselves feel special and needed they sure could have them, but they would have to become dumb to overlook the fact that all these precious special friends where using them. 

Then there are all the people who think that because my mom and dad look the way they do and because of what business they own and what they do that they must be crazy fun party animals! These people only want to be around them if they are livening up the party, which I have to tell you my mom and dad do so much of...... NOT hahaha! Sure they will go out with 'friends' and play nice and pretend that's what they do but when you really don't do that all the time it becomes hard to keep up the front if you know what I mean. First of all my dad does not drink or do drugs of any kind ever. Oh ya he used to but that is another story, now he does not. My mom has a some drinks once in awhile but not all the time so you can imagine how hard it would be to fit in with a 'party' crowd when you just don't do that. The first couple times of getting together are okay and actually you can keep up the facade for years if your too busy to get around and see these people too often. But on sustained contact with these type of 'friends' they figure out that your not like them, your not so much fun and your not crazy like they thought and most of them just drift away and are no more to be seen or heard from.  

After a few years of owning a business  mom and dad learned to be really really cautious of the 'friends' they make. 

Ya we have friends, real friends. The friends that stick by you no matter what, that don't expect free stuff, that don't want to party with you all the time. Who really get to know you. Yup we actually do got a few who love and accept us for the great average a lot of times boring people we are. 

Moms always willing to give everyone a chance. Dad is always seeing the future of that chance as being a bad idea. mom ever optimistic rarely listens to him when he predicts it will go bad, Dads usually right. But every once in awhile dad is wrong and when he is wrong it really breaks down all the hard work mom has put into convincing him that friends are good to have and not everyone is out to take advantage of you. When dad really lets himself become really close friends with someone if it backfires and they turn out to be mean loser users, it destroys all the hard work mom has put in and she has to work for another 3 or 4 years too change dads mind that not all people who want to be your friends are going to take advantage of you and use you. However after being taken advantage of and used so many times and dad being right so often mom just stopped trying so hard to have friends.

It is hurtful for my mom to have family drifts away.  We try to remind her that we are what we are and we can't pretend we are something different even to make family happy. Most family accept each other for what they are and do not ask more than you can give. There are always going to be some that expect and want more than you are able to give. So you accept that and hope that someday they learn to love and accept and even forgive you for who you are and not expect things from you that your not able to give. 

We still get out and have fun with people.  Once in awhile we even let people get close enough to actually 'know' us. But we are very cautious. And there are still going to be times people drift away because we are not what they thought we were. But that's life I guess. 

I like to be just us and the family not have to worry about friends.  Okay I don't even like the family part so much but that's just me I can deal with them if they just leave me alone. Mom always says it is good to be socialized whatever the heck that is? I think she means I need to be nicer to others and not always be so defensive and sound like I am going to try and eat them. I am trying I really am and I think I am getting much better at it too! 

We live a pretty solitary life, just mom, dad me and Porsha most of the time.  It is just easier sometimes. 

Bark at ya later!!

Count Down

The count down to my fabulous adventure has begun! Well okay it began two years ago but I mean really I can actually count that high (okay low) this time.

Mom and dad packed the suitcases. Is moms suitcase ever HEAVY, whew, good thing I am to small to haul it around, poor dad.  To be fair it is not all her clothes it is all the other stuff we are going to need okay not me per say but everything else they are going to need while we are in Belize. I think though personally that a lot of what they are packing they could very well get it down there just as well. By the time you pay for the extra bag and all to take the stuff you probably are not saving any money by buying it here to take down there.  But don't listen to me or anything,  I am just the cute little family mascot what the heck do I know. So now a second (okay) third suitcase is going to have to be packed and brought along. Which really if you think about it is not too bad considering mom used to pack a whole large suitcase for a one week vacation and she is only packing three for six months this time, and one of them is my dads. She actually paired down the clothes she is taking to one side of her suitcase. Which was great. It was all the deodorant and leave in conditioner that seems to be weighing down the bags. That and the three big boxes of chocolate!

Okay I admit the chocolate is a health thing she is trying at the moment she is not packing it because she is so addicted to chocolate and can't live without it, but it sounded funny.  The chocolate is supposed to be loaded with all kinds of good things like antioxidants and probiotics (whatever that is) hey did you know that probiotics is such a new word it is not even in the dictionary, wonder what genius thought up that. 'Hey lets come up with a new word that sounds healthy so we can sell more stuff to poor unsuspecting cow... oops sorry .... I mean people'. The chocolate company claims that three little pieces of this chocolate is like eating 6 lbs of spinach or some crazy amount of tomatoes in one sitting. . It also has acai berry and some other kind of berry in it too.  How all that goodness can come from chocolate I don't know I find it a little hard to wrap my brain around it but admittedly my brain is pretty small, but because it is small if I were to understand it then it would mean it was easy to understand right? Okay we will see. The sad part of it all is this company that is making and selling the chocolate that is so healthy for you has it set up like a multi level marketing thing where you 'can' sign up and get a discount on your product when you buy it, and people can be signed up under you but to benefit from people signing up under you you HAVE TO GO ON AUTOMATIC SHIP AND PAY. Now that is a definite rip off and scam if I ever heard one. How fair is that? If you don't agree to have this chocolate automatically shipped to you and they take the money from your credit card every month you can sign up a million people under you but you do not benefit from it someone else does. Way to scam people into signing up for auto payment. So anyway my mom is really annoyed about that, she hates it when people try to force you into doing something you don't want to do by withholding benefits if you don't do what they want. Yup.

So anyway she bought three boxes of the chocolate to take with her when we go and that is about 10 extra pounds in the suitcase. It is amazing how quickly a little suitcase can become really really heavy. And it is not from my 12 little packages of dog food or the two squeakies my mom packed for me either. Of course suitcase weight can be deceiving too. A lot of time you think they weigh way more than the really do. But dad can hardly lift my moms so I think hers it to heavy, just my opinion..... okay dads opinion too actually!

It is getting a little cold here not liking that it is supposed to go down to 0 this week <:-O
Not liking that. But it will help me appreciate the weather I have been hearing so much about in Belize when we get there! I am too little to have to endure frigid temperatures! I almost froze to death last winter!

There is not much left to organize in the next 14 days. I feel for my poor mom so much to get in line before we leave. She will be really happy to not have to worry so much about stuff being organized when we get to Belize. I think sometimes she thinks it sucks to be smart enough to organize all this stuff so we can do it, but if she wasn't we would not be doing it so we are happy she is smart enough. Soon all she will have to think about is going to the market to buy supper stuff and going to the beach to swim every day. Awe the life.

It sure took a long time and a LOT of work for mom and dad to get to the point where they are. So much organizing and planning and reorganizing. Life is never simple and it is especially chaotic when a person is trying to organize a whole new life! It is stressful, nothing ever goes the way you plan and you can never give up. They had to always be planning and working and saving so they can do what they dreamed of, especially tricky and hard if your not a millionaire which mom and dad are far from being! I know a lot of times mom wanted to just go back to her old life. I know a lot of times mom wishes she was the cute family mascot so all she had to do is go along for the ride.  I think she will be happy when all she has to worry about is what to buy for supper at the market, at least I hope that will be the biggest decision of the winter :-D

So I wait with bated breath for the 15th. It will be so exciting and scary! Only a few more things to take care of here before we go and then sun and ocean here we come.

Anyway gotta nap. Sniff ya later.