Week 8

Here are the rest of our beach vacation pictures. It was a great week...have I mentioned how much I love vacation?? Can't wait until my next vacation. The beach and house were wonderful (except the ticks that Ubi picked up from the yard).

February 21
Enjoying the yard at the beach house as the sun was setting. We were right on the water and at high tide, the waves hit against the sea wall.

February 22
Putting the last piece in the puzzle. Taylor helped with the last piece after we did the other 999.
February 23
We went up to El Valle for the day - walked around the market, "hiked" to the waterfall, enjoyed a small rain shower and then had lunch. We tried to eat at three different restaurants listed in the guide books but they were either closed or unresponsive or non-existent so we went to the grocery store and bought some snacks instead.

February 24
Playing Ubi, the game. It was so much fun...I love Ubi (I even named my dog after the game). Our team lost, but I had a lot of fun playing. Thanks for indulging me, Ryans.

February 25
After returning from the beach, we visited the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal and watched the ships go through. We were on the top observation deck in the pouring rain for a bit before we headed down to the covered bleachers.

February 26
The beach vacation came to an end and the Ryans had to leave. It was SO much fun to have them here and I'm honored that they let us be a part of their vacation. Thank you! We took them to the airport and were sad to see them go.

Week 7

Hello loyal readers! I'm a little delayed in posting this time because I've been on vacation! We went to the beach last weekend and stayed for a whole week. Our good friends, the Ryans, came from the states to visit the beautiful Panamanian beaches. We spent a wonderful time with them out at the beach. More pictures will be posted in next week's group. These are some pictures from before we left and our first few days. It really was a wonderful time and I'm sad they are gone. Now I have to get back to real life...but I don't want to, I prefer vacation.

February 14
Bill gave me a lovely rose for Valentine's Day. It is yellow and beautiful.

February 15
Bill's Valentine's Day gift arrived a day late but he still loved it. I gave him a burr coffee grinder. He has wanted one for a while and he's really happy with it. He claims the espresso tastes much better with the finer grind. I'm happy that he's happy. (We didn't give very romantic gifts this year...I got a freezer and he got a coffee grinder!) February 16
We were trying to pack for the beach and Bacon just had to sit in the bag. This cat is a definite "bag lady". She loves all types and sizes of bags: purses, grocery bags, duffel bags, etc. She sat in my bag for quite a while before I kicked her out.
February 17
In anticipation of our week at the beach, I made a few foods ahead of time to take with us. I wanted to make things that would travel well and tasted better with time. I made banana bread, pesto chicken salad, and this: quinoa with black beans and corn. It's pretty delicious...it has cumin and cayenne pepper and cilantro and is exactly tasty. February 18
The Ryans arrived! We picked everyone up at the airport and rented a 15-passenger van for transportation. It was so fun to see all of them all at the same time. The beginning of a great vacation week!
February 19
We started our adventure and drove out to the beach house. It was a lovely house right on the beach at Palmar. It was so restful to be there. We enjoyed some wonderful meals there too - we had plenty of food! This was dinner the first night.
February 20
What is a vacation without a puzzle? We completed two puzzles during the week. This was the first - an antique map puzzle that I received as a Christmas gift. It was fun to put a puzzle together with the Ryans again - reminded me of old times...ah, the memories!

Week 6

I forgot to mention it last time but I hit 200!!! That's right, I've posted 200 blog posts. Wow, I didn't know I had that much to say. Here I go with 201 and the pictures from Week 6.

February 6
We went to the embassy to watch the Super Bowl...they had a big party. It was fun, even though I wasn't too interested in either team playing. I forgot to take a picture until the very end and then I was rushed. But, we had a good time and ate football food!

February 7
These are the new beach towels we bought last weekend. Now we have to go to the beach.

February 8
Bill sends money to OPB because he likes to listen to NPR. They sent him a lovely bookmark...I think I'll use it more than he does.

February 9
I didn't get a very good picture, but this is a ñeque. There were a bunch of them by the side of the road, but they ran away when I took out my camera. They are rodents, also called agoutis.

February 10
Time for a picture of me again. I don't really look like I've changed.

February 11
This is Bacon's favorite spot. She climbs on the chair and pushes the curtains aside and looks out the window for hours. It always makes me chuckle (sometimes she has to work really hard to move the curtains out of the way). February 12
We had dinner at Abby & Erica's house - chicken curry...delicious! Abby also made a heart-shaped cake for her Valentine's Day party at school...how cute!
February 13
Today I went grocery shopping with Maggie...again. It was delightful and fun as it always is! The only disappointment was the lack of break-and-bake cookies...we are very sad. They had some delicious looking strawberries, but we laughed about them because of the price. I guess if you really want chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentine's Day it will cost you $19.95 just for the berries...not going to happen. But, at least I can appreciate the imports and it's nice to know they are there if I did think it was worth it.

Week 5

And now, without further ado, here is Week 5:

January 30
I spent most of the day doing chores and sitting at my desk. So, I had nothing interesting to take a picture of. Ubi was getting bored...and tired. And, he was snoring.

January 31
Again, spent a lot of time sitting at my desk working on projects. No exciting pictures today...but the projects are exciting!
February 1
This was what I did last weekend, but I forgot to take a picture. I finally hung pictures in our upstairs hallway. And they look great!

February 2
Spent time chatting on Skype with my mom, always fun!

February 3
I love Sharpies! You can never have enough. I have a special stash at work, even though I rarely use them there. But looking at them makes me happy!

February 4
I finally went back to water aerobics again...after a long Christmas break. For me, it's one of the most enjoyable forms of exercise.

February 5
I have a new FREEZER!!!! I'm so excited about it. We bought it today and it is my early Valentine's Day gift. It may not be very romantic, but I LOVE it! Thank you, Bill!