La Crucecita

On the day following our arrival husband M and I took a taxi to the nearest shopping square in Huatulco called La Crucecita to do some shopping. We were waiting for our suitcase to arrive and were told this would be a good place to get some clothes meanwhile.  It was a nice reason to see a bit more than the resort where we were vacationing.

Our Mexico Vacation

View from our Room

Sunrise from our balcony

Sunrise

Bathroom Glass Doors

wooden shower floor

Room Service Included

Husband M, daughter L, son K and I went with 6 other friends to an all-inclusive resort called Secrets in Huatulco, Mexico. This was in the last week of October. One of our suitcases was lost for a few days and was finally located in Calgary and returned to us intact. It contained my and M's clothes mostly. The Westjet airline said they would compensate us for up to US$250 that we could spend for essentials meanwhile.

In spite of this we all had a fantastic time there. Best of all, we had free wifi so we could have complete internet access.  Daughter L and I enjoyed taking Zumba classes by the pool every day. I will post some more photos in the coming days.  Son K enjoyed lots of room service breakfasts and late night snacks which were included in the cost.

Sunday Sketches - Treescape

Welcome to Alexandra's Sunday Sketches, the last one from England! I did a 'Treescape'for you in my art journal (8 1/2" x 11") in watercolour pencil and crayon.

Moving On

holiday arrangements already on sale

Son K and I were at Costco the other day.  We shopped and he was tasked with getting all the stuff into the car while I went to the washroom.  Once we arrived at home, I said 'where are the socks I bought?'  They had been sitting at the top end of the cart in the 'baby seat'.  K had been so busy getting the toilet paper and case of diet coke from the middle and bottom row of the cart he completely missed the two 6-packs of socks in the front!  Off we went back to Costco, but the socks were gone within that half hour.

At customer service, this man was ahead of us with a similar problem.  His whole cart of purchases had gone missing.  He said his baby had been crying and he got distracted and drove home without unloading his cart of purchases!  He had diapers and bottled water and a whole bunch of stuff. Customer service had pages listing found items  but we were not lucky, and neither was this poor man.  This must happen all the time and some people do recover their items.

I don't think this was a lesson learned, more of 'things happen'.  I re-purchased the socks and we moved on!

Paint Party Friday - Three Trees

It's time for Paint Party Friday! Thanks to our hosts Kristin and Eva. This piece is done in my art journal (8 1/2" x 11") in watercolour pencil. I called it 'Three Trees', I seem to paint a lot of trees at this time of year, based on my observations around the neighbourhood.

On this Remembrance Day, lest we forget, let us honour our veterans and be thankful for our freedom.

Chicken Save

Daughter L made some breaded chicken the other day and felt the dish didn't quite work. She told me 'we' have to re-invent it in some way to make it a good dish, and basically so we wouldn't waste the good chicken. She said she had already put garlic and parmesan cheese in the seasoning.

I went to google searching for tomato based chicken sauces. I had a can of diced tomatoes. So I added 1/2 tsp dried basil, 3 tbs balsamic vinegar heated everything (including the chicken) in a bit of olive oil. It was delicious and we saved the chicken!

On Judgement-free Acceptance

I was reading this newsletter from professional organizer Hellen Buttigeig. She had a topic on 'organizing your life'. She advises us to practice judgment-free acceptance. Don't try to change people, accept them for what they are. They are what they are. She asked us to stop measuring situations. Don't try to change or control things. It is what it is. Judgments hold us back from a full life.

These are good, perhaps relaxing words of wisdom, I thought.