Vaccaciones en Puerto Rico ~ Partido numero DOS

I think island life is getting to me.

I sure don't feel like writing about anything....

I let the pictures do the explaining.

Pura vida, no time but the present.....

partido numero uno ~ vaccaciones de puerto rico y florida

I guess I'd better write something.....

I've been on vacation for almost 9 days now & not an iota has been penned.  Oh well, guess I've been too busy livin' it to re-live it.  Things were pretty crazy there for a bit:  visiting family in Floriday, marathon races, visiting Topher's old high school friends, traveling to Puerto Rico, acclimatizing to the snails pace of life here, meeting new friends, staying up too late laughing, staying out too long in the sun on the beach, going for long horseback rides on the beach, eating too many tostones & pastries from Puntas Bakery & partying with Topher's family & our adopted Uncle Dave by the pool @ Allison & Craig's condo until the weeeee hours of the night.  Alas, all have left the building, as they say, except for the three of us & Jimmy....& the Coqui's.  So its pretty quiet around here.  Its also only 5:52PM in Portland (its 9:52 here) so I feel like I can spare some time for once & put some things down in the old book for posterity's sake.

I don't want to overwhelm, so I'll just circumnavigate the highlights.

We arrived in Tampa with only minor traveling turbulence & Stella was as good as one could be at eighteen months of life in a small seat for 8+ hours.  She rocks.

Only 1 snotty flight attendant who wanted my to cover up while breastfeeding on the plane & one nasty overworked lady at PDX.  Other than that, piece of CAKE>

Next morning bright & early we met Topher's mom Cathy at the finishline of her first half marathon.  Congrats Cathy!!! We're so proud of you!  She looked like she could just turn around & do it again at the finishline.  An amazing accomplishment.  Beforehand, we ate breakfast on the go with Ben, our nephew before he headed out to North Carolina for TDAY.....

Cousins!  CUTE!

There she is!  She did it!

Way to go Nana!

<<<<<>>>>

Wearing Nana's vest & hanging out in the condo.

We brushed up Stella's swimming chops in the pool on the roof of the condo & got re-acquainted with that odd bright shining globe of light in the sky.  I think its called the sun?  I couldn't remember at the time, but its all coming back to me now....

We met up with some Topher's old high school friends & talked way too long into the night....

We also met up with his beloved Uncle Mark & Aunt Norma Jean & his cousins & their granddaughter, Alyssa....the two of them got along famously & were making eyes at each other the whole time at lunch where I got to indulge in my favorite St Pete delight:  the fried grouper sandwich with cheese.  mmmmmm......

Then we packed it up & got on the WORST timed flight ever at 9pm from Tampa, layover in Ft Lauderdale & then land in Aguadilla, PR at 3:30 am.  

 Margaritas in the airport in Ft Lauderdale....if you can't beat em, join em.

 By the time you get your rental car & drive to Rincon, its 5 am, the roosters are crowing & that baby is gonna wake up like its a new day & you haven't slept since yesterday at 5am when she woke up....PHEW she slept until NOON so that was NICE>   We were pretty jet-lagged though to say the least....but you won't feel that badly for us for very long as soon as you see these:

 Our view when we wake up in the morning & what we do in the day.....not much.

The sweet digs at the Vista.

Stella rockin the jean shorts & LOVES the bananas....

A fun relaxing day @ Steps Beach.....

  

It surely does not suck here.

.......more to come when i have time.  The coqui's are really singing right now out in the jungle & i wouldn't want to miss it.  I also have a lot of sitting in the peace & quiet studying the stars to do, so I better get going on that as well.   :)

If you can't live your life when you are alive, when are you going to do it?????

Piedmont Cottage Bungalow ~ at your service

Yay we finished it!  Our labor of love is complete. We had our first "real" guest last week & she LOVED it.  Thanks for staying with us Lyn!  It was a lot of fun.  

We will be renting out the cottage aka "sugar shack" for up to 1 month stays, a minumum of 2 nights, preferably.

Please message me at heatherbmcgarry@comcast.net for all inquiries.

We look forward to all the new interesting people we will meet & to giving you a unique Portland experience for your stay in our fair city.

Still Creek Afternoon

We got away last weekend & spent Topher's birthday in the Mt Hood National Forest.  It was exactly what we needed in this madness of summer with all the hullaballoo & goings on....what a wonderful getaway!!!

I actually had a moment to write a poem....something I haven't done in quite some time.  I like it.

~Still Creek Afternoon~

~A butterfly sits silently by the softly shhshhing stream.  Its wings a subtle reminder of other voices, from far, faraway places & times, long gone.~

the cold-creek-water-washed breakfast pots & pans  - metal -  glistening in the last ray of sun as it sets behind the forested mountain.  it is hot on that side of the mountain.  you can tell because your skin has that warm, touched feeling from yesterdays foray to the lake.

but here, here, it is cool.  and quiet.  and still.  and the dog is sitting watching the stream & the occasional fly that he lazily snaps at when it crosses too closely to his snout.

over there across the mountain & the freeway & smaller outlying towns all the way to the city, it is HOT.  there are many, many people, many cars, many phones & many things you should be doing.  commitments you are missing and an old friends' party that you should be attending.  there is laundry like a rockslide & unfinished business.  paperwork, a bin full of unopened mail & a calendar overflowing of appointments like a too full shallow bowl of piping hot soup.  but here, there is NO SERVICE.

~That butterfly flew away.  I wonder where she went? ~

here the babe is sleeping soundly in the truckbed bivouac like a tiny dancer after wearing herself out at her first recital - her hands cupped & chubby.  papa's napping too in the hammock as it lazily buzzes over the creek between tall, mossy, wise trees.

and mama has put pen to paper after such a long time it has been - too long.  what happens to the days - the weeks - the seasons - and then

you get to come here.  You have the wisdom & intuition to come here to this place, on this day, and just breathe.  and just sit with it ALL:  humbled by the water, the fresh air, the blaze of stars in the night sky - so many you can't believe they are real - {when did you forget there were that many? it really has been too long since you have sat in awe of the milky way & its host of celestial wonder} - the calm branches & needles falling through sunlit firs

Everything is perfect.

~And that butterfly will return, one day, with new adventures on her wings.....~

the main reason i haven't been posting much lately

So I'm looking at my blogging status on the left hand side of the blog roll & it looks like in March (when I started back working about full time) I completely fell of the board with the blog posts.  Its a good thing that I got some work & can consequently pay some bills, feed my child (and myself & husband) & buy some much deserved beer.  BUT, it is disappointing that I haven't been keeping track of all the amazing firsts & goings on in our lives these past few months.  

I feel like I hardly have time to LIVE my life, much less the time it takes to blog about it later.  

Lets see....in the past few months:

I completed 40 hours of study/education & passed the National Mortgage Licensing exam (along with not to mention hours & hours of trying to navigate the horrendously cumbersome licensing website so you can be sure you are "legal).  I closed two loan transactions which are anything but easy these days with all the regulations now, I also got a Silver promotion in the chocolate business & lost 20 pounds on my "healthy chocolate" diet challenge!  I replaced one meal a day (not every day) with a protein bar & piece of fruit & didn't change anything else & I'm two full sizes smaller!  YIPPEE!  Topher slaves on the building project most days.  He works at the DEQ & then he comes home & works on the building.....see below.

We went to Tennessee for my sister Holly's wedding.

Stella is talking, practically walking, swimming & diving, EATING...still not really sleeping much....oh did I say EATING?  She loves to eat.  Good for her!....but we do go through a lot of diapers.

One of the main reasons that I have zero to less than zero extra time in the day is that we have this "little" project that has been going on in our backyard since, oh about two weeks after Stella was born.  

Topher took some time off work last summer when she was born, & instead of just relaxing & taking it all in he decided to yup, tear down the garage.  Its a good thing, it was going to fall down anyway of its own accord sooner rather than later, so why not be in charge of its demise.

The trouble with deconstruction is that it is so easy.  It lures you in with the charms of destruction.  It is oh so simple to demolish a building in 1 or 2 days.  However the act of Creation, well we all know how much longer it takes to create than it does to destroy.  Plenty of myths & stories & songs about all that.  You don't need me to go into it here.

So here is the shack before it had any sugar in it.  About a week after Topher went spider-monkey on it.....and then a couple weeks later....

.....and then a month later....

.....and then a few months ago....If you are keeping track, this pic with the trench across the yard is about 10 months gestation period.  So a little longer than it takes to grow a human being.  More along the lines of an Elephants gestation period I would say.

This was easily the most horrific of all the phases.  Not only is our basement full of crap & dug up, but the entire back yard was too.  Dirt, sawdust, debris, stuff & more stuff....EVERYWHERE>  It seemed like it would never be done at this point.  I had almost lost all hope.   I think this was during mercury retrograde too, so the slowdown was in the stars.....And then, POOF!  We had to bust some serious booty cuz everyone was coming here for the bday spectacular weekend for Stella & I.  So we got the whole yard cleaned up & the sheetrocker came & the mud & taper came & somehow it all came together.    

Mind you, it isn't "finished" by any means.  BUT it is down to the classic 90/10.  Where the last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time.....hmmm.....so I guess it FEELS like it is getting so close.  But maybe it is like summer in Portland.  You feel like it is really just around the corner & then it doesn't get here until the middle of July.  All I have to say is, I sure am glad I can see the light at the end of the tunnel at this point.  Floors are going in today, colors are picked out for the kitchen nook, painting this weekend, will get ikea cabinets & accessories this weekend & should be done with the most of it by the middle of next week!

YIPPEE!

When it is done, we are going to be turning it into a vacation rental.  Short term, 3 night minimum stays, month maximum (maybe 2).  So, if you know anyone looking for a quintessential portland experience & they don't want to stay in a hotel when they visit, let us know.  We'll be happy to put them up in the "Sugah Shack" aka "Casita Stellita" aka "Piedmont Cottage Bungalow".

One more thing, though.  There is a moritorium on building ANYTHING for at least a year after this is completed!!!  Topher never reads these blogs though, so he will probably ignore that.  But it totally takes over & I'd rather chase a rattlesnake into a corner at this point than build another "but its just a" project.  

STELLA's FIRST BDAY!!!!....oh & mine too....but not my first. Duh.

I'm the worst mother EVER.  Posting this 3 days after her actual birthday.   What can I say.  Things have been a little crazy for me & thereby us.

Well we did have a great party for Stella & sort of for me the weekend before & all my family was in town so I kind of shot my wad then.  Topher wound up having to go out of town on your birthday so that wasn't very fun.  I had a TON of work (which is a good thing) but have been swamped & playing catchup so here we are.

Topher & I did get to stay in a condo for my birthday night (our first night away from Stella for a whole year! her whole life really!) & it was VERY nice to get away.  My parents stayed with Stella & she did great!  See, she really doesn't need us after all, we just THINK she does.

The year of the Tiger has a way of sweeping us along whether we can keep up or not.  SO bear with us as we have not been the best bloggers as of late.

Thanks to everyone for coming & making Stella's bday super fun!