We have had some good visits with family. Jeff, Tarra and Aiden arrived on Dec. 26th; Angie and Matt arrived on Dec. 27th. Jeff brought his Wii game machine so we all, except Barb, engaged in various contests. It can be quite addictive, especially if one is at all competitive. Every time you lose, you immediately want a rematch to try to get even. Lots of fun and much better than TV watching with its passivity. Jeff and Tarra left on the 28th, leaving Aiden behind. He is really good. He likes is afternoon nap at about 1 p.m. and goes to bed at 7. The only downside is that he wakes up at 5 a.m. or shortly after. However, even then if someone says hello, he seems content to stay in his crib, talking to himself.
Matt had to work on Monday, Dec. 29th so they got up and left about 8 a.m. Later about noon, Barb's sister Emma and her spouse Sonya arrived. We had lunch in the lodge and spent the afternoon together. Last night, there was just Aiden with us. Jeff and Tarra are to return today to attend a cooking demonstration at the lodge and to pick up Aiden. Also today Dawn and Gordon are to arrive before noon to spent 2 nights with us as well as attend the New Year's Eve dance. Then, on Dec. 31st, Barb's sister, Faye, and her husband Keith from Toronto are scheduled to arrive. Wendy and Greg may also come. We shall have a full house with 8 adults; however, it is possible to sleep 10 in this cottage so we can manage.
Dawn and Gordon leave on Jan. 1st. We are not sure how long the others will be here. Our time ends on Saturday, Jan. 3rd when we return to Halifax. Barb's brother, Dave, and wife Jess are coming down to Bedford on Sunday, so that will complete the visits with family. We leave very early on Jan. 5th to return to Ajijic. The visit is a busy, at times hectic, period, but we have managed to see a lot of people and relatives. White Point is a lovely, and restful place so that has helped. We always enjoy being here.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Gazebo
Today at White Point, it is raining; also, we have lost power about 4 times, although the longest was only about 2 hours at most.
With all the busyness, I have not had time to post photos of our new gazebo, which was finished just before the end of November. Here are some photos now. The first is at an angle with the bedroom to the right. the second is from the back wall looking towards the house. The third is in close with the entrance hall in the house in the background.
We seem to be getting more company here at White Point. Barb's sister, Faye, has called to say that she and Keith are going to come down from Toronto to visit us Dec. 31 and maybe until the Jan. 2. There is a possibility, albeit a bit remote, that her sister, Wendy and her husband Greg may come at the same time. With Dawn and Gordon here, that would make a total of 8. That is not serious, because at a pinch, we could sleep up to 10 people here. At any rate, it will ensure that we make good use of our 3 bedroom, 2 bath cottage. And all for my birthday!
Monday, December 22, 2008
White Point Beach Resort
It has been over 3 weeks since I posted on this blog. It has been a very busy time. Marilyn and Del, friends of Nancy as well as Kate & Jack, visited the latter for a week in early December. We were busy going to dinner, going to the spas in San Juan Cosala and Tlaquepaque. I was also marking and grading essays from my course. Then, we had to get ready to make the trip to Halifax.
Jack and Kate are looking after Bijou for us. On the 15th we took Bijou and stayed at their condo to see if Bijou would settle there. Early (5:30 a.m.) Jack got us up and drove us to the airport. That was early and we got there with almost 2 hours before flight time. However, I then noticed that I had forgotten our computers--necessary because it had my grades to be submitted in Halifax. We rushed back home to Ajijic, got the computers and got back to the airport with just a half hour before boarding (an hour before takeoff). On going in to get our boarding passes, we learned that we needed our FM3 visa documents. Barb had packed them in our carryon luggage. We searched, but were unable to find them immediately; under stress like that one does not perform well. The lady at the counter gave us some forms that had to be stamped by an immigration official, if he was willing. We rushed down to the office; fortunately, although a bit grumpy, he agreed to stamp the forms. Then we had to rush to security; after that, we had to run to another terminal at the far end of complex. When we got there, they had already started the boarding process; however, there was a long line which we could join. This was still not the end. For some reason, there was another security check before boarding the Continental Airlines flight; my suspicion is that Americans don’t trust the Mexican security. This check did not have x-ray machines so everything was being done by hand going through our carryon luggage. The guy in my line, opened the suitcase, took a quick look and examination and waved me through. However, Barb got a young woman, new to the job, and she examined everything thoroughly. Barb had wooden knitting needles (ok), but the young woman didn’t know and had to call someone higher up. She also kept going over Barb with the wand because it kept setting alarm, probably the snaps on her coat. Barb was the last to get on the bus and was holding everyone up. Needless to say, we were pretty frazzled by the time we got on board. Thankfully, because we had not had time to eat, there was a decent breakfast on the airplane.
Everything went well until we got to Newark, N.J. Although the temp. was just above freezing, it was snowing and planes were behind schedule. There was a huge backup of planes because they had to be de-iced. We had a car rental reservation, but I was worried that there would be no one at the desk. We were supposed to get in just before midnight and they were supposed to close at 12:30 a.m. I had been warned to call if we were going to be delayed. I did that and the woman said that she would wait. However, when we were over 3 hours late, I didn’t expect her to be there. However, there she was even though it was about 3:15. She was very cheery, with a wry sense of humour. I had given her the flight number so she had watched as the time kept getting later and later. We were exhausted when we finally got to Barb’s sister’s house in Bedford (about 4 a.m.).
We then had 3 busy days in Halifax, keeping appointments, changing addresses, picking up my exams to mark, etc. We did get to the Brunch Club party at Estelle’s condo on Friday night. It was great to see so many of our friends in the Brunch Club. Barb had her computer with lots of photos of Ajijic, not just hers but Nancy’s and Estelle’s. I expect our Brunch Club friends were getting a bit sick of hearing about Ajijic by the end.
We finally got to White Point Beach on Saturday, December 20th. The temperatures are certainly a shock after leaving Mexico. The night of the party, it was -12 C. Sunday night there was a big storm hitting the Maritimes. There was some snow, which turned to rain; the big problem was the wind which reached close to hurricane force. We lost power here for a short time in the night, but nothing very long. However, quite a number of people in Halifax area lost power. Barb’s son Jeff lost power for about 9 hours; it turned colder today (about -5 C) so it was getting quite cool. We heard that Point Pleasant Park in Halifax has been closed until the downed trees can be removed. That park was devastated by Hurrican Juan a few years ago. It apparently got zapped again.
The forecast is for the temperatures to get warmer and even perhaps rain on Christmas Day. I finished grading my exams and submitted the final grades this afternoon. Thus, I am now free to enjoy our time here. What ever comes, we are very cozy in our White Point cottage with a nice big fire in the fireplace. I’ll try to keep up to date better now that we have got our must-do tasks pretty well taken care of.
Jack and Kate are looking after Bijou for us. On the 15th we took Bijou and stayed at their condo to see if Bijou would settle there. Early (5:30 a.m.) Jack got us up and drove us to the airport. That was early and we got there with almost 2 hours before flight time. However, I then noticed that I had forgotten our computers--necessary because it had my grades to be submitted in Halifax. We rushed back home to Ajijic, got the computers and got back to the airport with just a half hour before boarding (an hour before takeoff). On going in to get our boarding passes, we learned that we needed our FM3 visa documents. Barb had packed them in our carryon luggage. We searched, but were unable to find them immediately; under stress like that one does not perform well. The lady at the counter gave us some forms that had to be stamped by an immigration official, if he was willing. We rushed down to the office; fortunately, although a bit grumpy, he agreed to stamp the forms. Then we had to rush to security; after that, we had to run to another terminal at the far end of complex. When we got there, they had already started the boarding process; however, there was a long line which we could join. This was still not the end. For some reason, there was another security check before boarding the Continental Airlines flight; my suspicion is that Americans don’t trust the Mexican security. This check did not have x-ray machines so everything was being done by hand going through our carryon luggage. The guy in my line, opened the suitcase, took a quick look and examination and waved me through. However, Barb got a young woman, new to the job, and she examined everything thoroughly. Barb had wooden knitting needles (ok), but the young woman didn’t know and had to call someone higher up. She also kept going over Barb with the wand because it kept setting alarm, probably the snaps on her coat. Barb was the last to get on the bus and was holding everyone up. Needless to say, we were pretty frazzled by the time we got on board. Thankfully, because we had not had time to eat, there was a decent breakfast on the airplane.
Everything went well until we got to Newark, N.J. Although the temp. was just above freezing, it was snowing and planes were behind schedule. There was a huge backup of planes because they had to be de-iced. We had a car rental reservation, but I was worried that there would be no one at the desk. We were supposed to get in just before midnight and they were supposed to close at 12:30 a.m. I had been warned to call if we were going to be delayed. I did that and the woman said that she would wait. However, when we were over 3 hours late, I didn’t expect her to be there. However, there she was even though it was about 3:15. She was very cheery, with a wry sense of humour. I had given her the flight number so she had watched as the time kept getting later and later. We were exhausted when we finally got to Barb’s sister’s house in Bedford (about 4 a.m.).
We then had 3 busy days in Halifax, keeping appointments, changing addresses, picking up my exams to mark, etc. We did get to the Brunch Club party at Estelle’s condo on Friday night. It was great to see so many of our friends in the Brunch Club. Barb had her computer with lots of photos of Ajijic, not just hers but Nancy’s and Estelle’s. I expect our Brunch Club friends were getting a bit sick of hearing about Ajijic by the end.
We finally got to White Point Beach on Saturday, December 20th. The temperatures are certainly a shock after leaving Mexico. The night of the party, it was -12 C. Sunday night there was a big storm hitting the Maritimes. There was some snow, which turned to rain; the big problem was the wind which reached close to hurricane force. We lost power here for a short time in the night, but nothing very long. However, quite a number of people in Halifax area lost power. Barb’s son Jeff lost power for about 9 hours; it turned colder today (about -5 C) so it was getting quite cool. We heard that Point Pleasant Park in Halifax has been closed until the downed trees can be removed. That park was devastated by Hurrican Juan a few years ago. It apparently got zapped again.
The forecast is for the temperatures to get warmer and even perhaps rain on Christmas Day. I finished grading my exams and submitted the final grades this afternoon. Thus, I am now free to enjoy our time here. What ever comes, we are very cozy in our White Point cottage with a nice big fire in the fireplace. I’ll try to keep up to date better now that we have got our must-do tasks pretty well taken care of.
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