We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbor's home, Ron and Karen, with all the fixin's. Watched a couple of football games, drank a few Belikins and had a good time visiting with all of our friends and neighbors.
Christmas was different this year. A new home, but all the decorations were still packed, so there wasn't our usual festive house. This would also be our first Christmas without Coral. Somehow, it just wasn't the same without her. She loved Christmas and her stocking. She always knew what stocking was hers.
But we did put up lights around the house and decorated our Corona Christmas tree. It's also a change to be in 90 degree weather at Christmas. Next year, I'm looking forward to starting new traditions. Mischelle packed 20 RubberMade totes full of Christmas decorations, so next year, I'm sure I'll be busy putting up decorations after Thanksgiving.
Mischelle's mom, Fay, came down to Belize, to celebrate the holidays with us, and she will be staying until April. She has joined us for Christmas almost every year since 2000.
We spent New Year's eve at the Casablanca Hotel, dancing the night away. Our Consejo Yacht Club rented the hotel to host our first New Year's Eve party and it was a huge success. Fifty or so people turned out for a beautiful evening on the bay, overlooking Chetumal. We thought that there may be a big fireworks show, over in Chetumal, but it was rather quiet this year. So we made some noise of our own and celebrated the beginning of a new year.
Our Consejo Yacht Club has acquired and refurbished a small sailing boat that was that was built locally, over 40 years ago, and was recently refurbished by the son of the original builder. She has a beautiful look about her and is very graceful on the water. She looks like a fun day sail and I'm looking forward to sailing her one day.
Our neighbors, Pip and Jason, have bought a Hobie Getaway that is the perfect boat for this bay. I hope to order ours in the near future. Another neighbor down the road has also bought a Getaway, and yet another in our development is deciding if they are also going to purchase one. Looks like we're going to have enough of these to start our own class and begin racing.
We went sailing on Jason's boat last week and it was a traffic jam out on the bay. There were three other sailboats and two pangas, all out on the bay at the same time. You can go for weeks without seeing another sailboat, just the sugar barges and a couple of pangas now and then.
I recently started, and have almost completed, screening in our porch. All we need to finish it is some mosquito netting we are ordering from the States. We brought down some sun fabric, so we could make some rolldowns for shade. All in all, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. Now we just need to see what the hurricane and rainy season will do to my work.
It's taken me a little over a week to complete, but a lot of that was waiting for the paint to dry on the framing. So, I spend that time waiting in the pool. I don't want to work too hard.
We all seem to be adapting well to life in Belize. Not everything is perfect, but I didn't expect it would be. I do sometimes miss going out for fast food. Not because of the food, but rather the ease it is to get. Here, you plan your meals because fast food is not an option. But, we don't go for want. Lobster is currently in season, and rather cheap. The fish and shrimp are great, also. The only thing they don't seem to have is a good cut of beef. But that's OK, too. I've lost 20 pounds since we've been here and Mischelle is ten pounds below when I married her.
Lots more chicken, fish, vegies and fruits. Just what the doctor ordered. I should probably check my blood pressure too. Maybe I don't need to be on medication anymore.
Well, I feel much better now that I have made a post and I promise to keep the blog a little more current. Now, it's off to town for some shopping, then back for the yacht club meeting. It's a tough life...but we're adapting.
