Hello - My Name is Debi, I'm a Hoarder

Illustration by Matt Muhurin

I don't know exactly why, but I've always been a hoarder - I mean you never know when you're going to need 378 twisty ties, or 73 rubber bands, or all the little scraps of fabric from a sewing project, 4 1/2 inches of elastic, plastic yogurt containers, pieces of old hose, extra screws from a project...

One of the odd aberrations I adopted early on is to hoard things I really like, and never use them. I mean I can remember as a kid having a favorite dress, or watch, or jeans, and never wanting to wear them in case something special came up and I would need them. I still do that????

So this morning, as I was cleaning out the fridge, I realized things are out of control. I make sauces, I buy sauces, all types of sauces, I never make just enough for what I'm doing, there's always extra. Condiments, we have loads of condiments. We have jars with teriyaki, chimchurri, pesto, salsa de chili arbol, guajillo chili paste, yogurt dill sauce, several mustards, jalapeno jelly, spicy conserva, a jar with bacon grease for cooking with, there's fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame seeds, miso, balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar, tarragon vinegar, olive oil, avacado oil, canola oil, sesame oil, molasses, maple syrup, the list goes on and on. I mean I will go look in the fridge and declare to Tom "There's nothing to eat", we'll peer into a nearly full fridge but can't find anything to grab and eat.

So this morning I managed to get rid of about 6, maybe 7 containers of stuff, but look at this, this is what's left.   I mean I kept one container with about 2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce, it's good sauce, I might need it.

Hello, my name is Debi, I'm a hoarder!

Resort Review - Catalonia Royal Tulum - Alegria Spa

Alegria Spa

Day 2 of our trip found me sitting peacefully on the beach in the shade reading a book and Suk getting a full body massage. Which she said was "Very Good".



Victor spends his days at the resort approaching guests and extolling them on the virtues and benefits of utilizing the resorts spa services. He tells you a bit about the services and points out the current specials. Sometimes he has with him one or two of the Spa Technicians and a massage chair and offers you a free 5 minute neck massage.



Day 3 found us once again talking with Victor and on this day he sold each of us on a spa service ''Deal". Suk signed up for a Hot Stone Massage (80minutes), and I selected a package that included a facial (25minutes), exfoliation (50minutes), and neck and shoulder massage (25minutes). We couldn't get in till Day 4, which meant we had to be very careful about the sun. Not like we weren't anyway; neither of us lay in the sun, we sit in the shade, with sunscreen.



So Day 4, 12:30 finds us at the Spa, which is lovely, and includes a small gym, steam room, sauna, hot tubs, and the spa service area.

The Rest Area

We were each introduced to our Technicians, Juventino for Suk, and Lisette for me, and directed to the changing room where we were issued our locker key and informed to disrobe, don the robe contained in our locker and enter the 'Rest' area. Now Suk, being 5 ft tall and under 100lbs fit nicely in the robe, I on the other hand being 5'7" and well over 100lbs was not quite contained in the robe. A lovely robe VERY thick and heavy; would have been perfect in Chicago in January, but May on the Riviera Maya, NO!



So off to our respect treatment rooms.



After my treatment I was told I could rest in the Rest Area, have a cool drink, etc. Well except that I had to pinch the robe together to keep the other spa service folks from seeing things they had no interest in seeing. So off to the changing are I went. I dressed then returned to the Rest Area to wait for Suk.


Suk was very disappointed in her Hot Stone Massage. Because of her work she has a lot of stress in her neck and shoulders; and even though she was told the Hot Stones relieved this type of tension, and even though she was having her Hot Stones with Juventino who had given her her massage 2 days previous and had done a fabulous job, the Stones did not do what she had wanted. So what a rotten way to end a fabulous stay!



My package was a bit disappointing although Lisette did a fabulous job; I can't blame her, but must take myself to task for not asking more questions. The brochure gave very brief descriptions and I guess I just projected what I wanted into that. The massage part was great, Lisette has very strong hands and was just starting to break down some of my knots and tension when she had to stop and move on to the next step - The exfoliation, was very light. I think it was a sugar scrub. I use a salt scrub and get a deeper exfoliation at home, although I don't typically get my back! The facial was nice, moisturizing, no deep cleansing and/or pore reduction. My face was well hydrated and felt great, but I really wanted a more deep pore cleaning. My fault for not being more specific.

So our trip was a roaring success.

We found that we travel well together, and make good roommates. I think we'll do it again!

Resort Review - Catalonia Royal Tulum - Day 2

So last the entertainment was a Mariachi band and a dance troupe called Raiz/Raices de Mexico who did what they called a Prehispanic Show. It was entertaining, but I'm not sure just how Prehispanic it was, although they did their renditions of several dances I had heard of/seen before. The show overall was entertaining, that's all I'd give it, entertaining.

Today, after sleeping in (till 8:15) we putzed around a bit then headed for the breakfast buffet, I managed to curtail my gluttony and ate only one piece of bacon and that was for my husband!

We headed to find the guy we spoke to yesterday to set ourselves up for some spa services, took us a while to find him, but we are all set!

The grounds here are really quite lovely and you can get a pretty good workout just walking around exploring.  The walkway are  overhung by large trees so the walking is mostly in shade, there are natural areas with small ponds, beautiful plantings, areas to sit...  They have soft music coming out of speakers that look like rocks.  We've encountered critters; coatimundi, black and spiny iguanas, what I was told by a groundsman is a 'ceriquito', don't know if the spelling is correct, by my internet search makes me think it is an Agouti, lots of birds...

I actually participated in a water aerobics class being offered; it's crazy these all inclusive places, they offer all sorts of entertainments for the guests; Do we need entertaining? They have quite a staff of fit, tanned, attractive young'uns to entertain. Offered water aerobics, salsa lessons, volleyball, scuba lessons, catamaran lessons, all sorts of activities, guess it keeps the guests on site rather than having them going out or off property.

The pool area is lovely.

Suk and I prefer to pass out day on the beach

I must say I am impressed with the staff, they are all very well trained, very attentive, friendly, eager to help, actually anticipate,  quite lovely.

Techie, a cyst, and a surgery

Last year our dog Tech (not pronounced TESH, or TEK, pronounce the ch like in cherry) developed a cyst on her side.It grew, got hard, and she lost all the hair on it.  It was loose with the skin, and never attached to the muscle so we didn't worry.  It went away, the hair grew back.

Well about a month ago it came back - this time however it ruptured.  I said not to worry, the fluid would leak out, it would heal, the hair would regrow.  Tom however decided she needed to see the Vet.

Last Wednesday the cyst was removed.

Resort Review - Catalonia Royal Tulum - Day 1

Even though the name of the Resort is Catalonia Royal Tulum, it is physically closer to Xpu Ha, although not too many people have heard of Xpu Ha (SCHPOO HAA).

Our drive to Xpu Ha took a little unexpected turn. I had authoritative advice from 2 seasoned travellers of this exact same route. (Josh, Jonna) Both failed to mention several keys 'tiny' bits of info. It's easy to do when you are so familiar with a thing to overlook tiny details. Got turned around in Valladolid and took off in exactly the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. Good thing we're so easy going with not a care in the world, and that the scenery was good.

We made it to our resort at just about 4 1/2 hours. Got easily checked in, and headed for the buffet lunch. Now I'm not typically a buffet fan, but this was actually quite good, even though we were just at the close down point, which is 3:3o. The trays were still full and things were still fresh and tasty. Lunch was accessorized by a lovely crispy tart Alameda Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. Wait staff was incredible and I think we got a bit of extra attention when I started talking with them in Espanol. Sometimes it pays to speak the local lingo.

Suk, getting ready for lunch!

Our table view!   Beautiful

Then we went down to the beach and just sat and enjoyed the surf, the breeze, the moisture, the volleyball game, ah heavan. The sand here is so silky soft and almost a white cream color, I am told it doesn't get hot, even in the sun.

Tonight there is entertainment, can't wait! More on the evening later! Oh, and photos of the Resort, and the Beach, And, .....

She's off!

I head out tomorrow for a week in Tulum.

Friend Suk is visiting and is MORE than eager to go to Tulum. Tulum is her decompression place, where she goes to forget about work and all her stress. It also just happens to be her absolute favorite beach in Mexico.
She asked me to go with her, and what, am I crazy, NO! I said Yes! Duh!

I've been to Tulum a few times, way back when the ruins were accesible; back in the olden days. I've never been to a beach at Tulum. A few years ago I was on a bus excursion that visited QUITE a few ruins in Yucatan, Quintana Roo, and Campeche. We stopped at Tulum. The ruins are still awesome, even if you can only see them from varying distances. I was agast, shocked, distressed, and upset to have seen people walking around this incredible site in bikinis, speedos, and varying styles of beach wear.

Tulum is the first, and to this date the only ancient site where I have experienced a moment of communion with the ancients. It was WAY back when you could climb, enter, touch and experience the ruins free and unmolested. There is a small Temple with a rock seat in it - you can see the small Temple in the right foreground of this photo I snatched from locogringo

I was able to go into that small Temple and sit on that seat - it was a magic moment, I still get gooseflesh thinking about it.

Here is a picture I took when we were last there, 2008 - you can just see the little seat. Oh, and you can see the rope barrier preventing you from getting anywhere near the Temple.

A little respect people - swimsuits are for the beach, the pool, and the tanning room.

More on my trip later!

Cinco de Mayo

A friend, a Mexican friend offered to me this explanation as to why Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo with much more gusto than Mexicans;

5 de Mayo is just a minor battle against the French when they were trying to get our territory, and Mexican army won it; so for Mexicans is not a very important battle. Corona Beer maybe even 20 years ago, started making a campaign to sell more beer in the US, and as a marketing tool they advertised it as Cinco de Mayo let's have a Mexican party with beer. Since Cinco de Mayo is an easy language sentence for the least Spanish inclined person, they made it, and everybody in The States thought that it was a big Mexican Hollyday. So, year after year is getting bigger there, and in Mexico the majority of Mexicans ignore what goes on in USA.

And then friend, and fellow blogger Paul, an American offered this story on his blog;


Back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery to Veracruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.

This would have been the largest, single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York . The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great that they began an annual commiseration of their misfortune which they observe to this day.

This National Day of Mourning occurs annually on May 5th and is known as:
Sinko De Mayo.


I like them both!

Detox

Tom and I are undergoing a second session of detox!

We've had company, twice, in a month!   

When we have company we get off our routine; we eat more, we drink more (and no I don't mean water), we party and play more!

Now don't get me wrong, we love when friends visit; we just get off our routine and then have a bit of decompression and detox to deal with once they leave!




In addition, with this last guest, Kathryn, aka Bubbles, from Durango Colorado I apparently got some sand fleas or sand chiggers or whatever you call them while at the beach one day.  It's getting better but oh my frickin gosh the itchiness was making me a bit insane.  Around both ankles so I'm thinkin while taking in the scenery and beers sitting under a palapa -

this would be Bubbles!

I am the only one though, neither Tom nor Kathryn got them! HMMMMMMMMM!   Anyway, I tried lots of different things, and found a Neem, emu oil, and lavender ointment to be the one that worked.   The itchiness and raised bumps are gone, but the discoloration remains.

And add to that the heat, yee gads!  Fortunately most of the time Kathryn, our last guest was here the weather was pretty good, hot days but the nights cooled off nicely, but for her last few days it was HOTTT, and no evening cooling.

Ah well, it's May, the rains will start soon!