Cabo at a Glance

I had SUCH an awesome time. I absolutely loved it and they had to drag me out kicking and screaming. Well, not really, but I DID get a little teary-eyed when it was time to leave. It was hard to leave my old friends and the friendly staff and the beautiful beach and the "free" drinks. Oh and the scorching (but not smoldering) hot 99 degree everyday weather. The most beautiful thing about it was that it was NOT humid! My hair loved Cabo just as much as I did!



This is the view from room 4430. If I ever go back to Dreams Los Cabos (which I FULLY intend to!) I will request NOT to be in a room ending with 28-30. It was all the way at the end of the hallway.

On Thursday night, we had a bachelor/bachelorette party for Raul & Maria. Here we are at El Squid Roe (!!!!) dancing on some stairs. Dancing on stairs is dangerous and frightening. I was very cautious. Also, the song we were dancing to was "Stayin' Alive" and I did not know all the moves, so Ami coached me from the bottom of the stairs.

After El Squid Roe, we went to Cabo Wabo, owned by Sammy Hagar. That was a fun place with a great band. This is all the girls on our way out: Ami, Maria, me, Dani, Darci & Tamira.

David and I hung out in the party pool for a little while on Friday. Only for a little while, though, because David didn't want to get his fingers all raisiny.

Although we couldn't swim in the ocean due to the high waves and dangerous currents, it was relaxing to hang out under these cute huts and watch!

Here's the inside of the church where Maria and Raul were married.

Waiting for my big moment-walking down the aisle. I walked way too fast and I think people definitely saw my lips moving as I said to myself, "Slowly, slowly, slowly". I was nominated to do the reading(s) but I backed out.

Couldn't resist giving David a big kiss. Weddings always make us feel the love.

Maria and Raul... married after 7 years! They are such a perfect couple. I just love them both!

After the reception by the pool, we headed to the lobby for more drinks (as if we needed them!) and the live band. I had said when I first tried on my dress that since I had a little extra room in the top, I could use it to carry my lipstick and maybe my camera. I never thought of using it as a bouquet holder!

On Sunday Darci and I went to Cocktail Lessons at the Barracuda. I loved that bar--you sat on swings while you ordered and drank AND the bartender, Marco, named a drink after me. It's called the Rebecca Special (but you must say it with a Mexican accent!) and it's mangoey and delicious! Anyway, Cocktail Lessons were taught by Eduardo and Jennifer (Yenni)and we made some bizarre but surprisingly tasty stuff--Start the Party (beer, tequila, simple syrup, lime/lemon juice, ice), Dirty Monkey (kahlua, banana, white rum, and I don't remember what else), something with cranberry, something with strawberry margarita, and 2 or 3 other drinks that I can't remember. Of course I can't remember... we drank all of those within 45 minutes. I almost fell off my swing after that.

On Monday, I did something I'd been wanting to do all week! I painted my very own guacamole bowl! That was fun! I couldn't go the whole week without doing the craft project!

Darci, Tamira and I at the swim up bar. Loved that concept!! Favorite drinks from the swim-up bar (and the walk-up ones too) this week were: Mojito! (of course), dirty monkey, Winnie the Pooh, Miami Vice (synonym for Lava Flow), Ticket to Fly (drink of the day), Fruits Liquor (another drink of the day), Mango & coconut rum, Sprite w/Cherry Pucker, and a few others that I probably had AFTER all of the above and therefore don't remember! ;)

Laying in hammocks is harder than it looks!

We went back to Cabo Wabo on our last night. Remind me never to wear a short skirt and lift my leg...I think I'm going to photoshop that woman out.



Our whole crew returns from our last night out. Darci, Ami, Dani, Raul, Maria (with a Cabo Wabo t-shirt she FOUND on the floor--lucky girl!), Tamira, Johnny & me.

Hee hee... this is me with Olwaldo, the towel man, who was my absolute biggest fan. I don't know what I did to make him fall absolutely in love with me, but he called me his "Rebeccita" and always asked my friends where I was if I wasn't with them when they picked up their towels. He never made me turn in my towel card and said I was "VIP" so I didn't need to turn it in, which was nice, because then if you forget to get it marked off when you turn your towel in you get charged $150 or something ridiculous. So he was a good friend to have, even though it got to be a little annoying.

Maria and Raul stayed until Wednesday. All the friends left on Tuesday. Everyone left around 9 a.m. except for Tamira and I. She left at 12, and I didn't have to leave until 3! So I got some extra pool time and hung out with Maria and Raul a little more. Even though I checked out at 12, Ivan the front desk guy said I could take advantage of the all-inclusive until I left. We had to take this picture of "The Last of the Mojitos". The mojito was my signature drink of the week. I love those things, and I had one almost every-other drink. In fact, I walked past the bell-boys once and one of them (Victor) said, "No mojito??" I think the night before we while we were waiting for a cab or something I had told him "Mojito is mi favorito!" Anyway, this turned out NOT to be the last of the mojitos! I had one more while I waited in the lobby for my shuttle to the airport.

And I thought I partied hard!! Check out Flat David upon our return home! Sorry I forgot to rotate the picture.

Bon Voyage!

Well, I guess I don't say "bon voyage" if I'm the one traveling, but oh well.
In 2 hours (yikes, only 2 hours!) I'll be leaving for my trip to Cabo San Lucas!! I'm feeling excited, but overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in the sense that I've found myself in tears at least 4 times this evening. Once was when I was still at school at 6:00 'tweaking' the sub plans that I had finished yesterday, once when I went to make 20 copies and found that the Xerox Bandit had stolen all but the two that remained on my account. I would testify under oath that there is NO WAY I made 1000 copies in the past 22 days. Again when I realized that I forgot to get my "exit-reentry" stamp in my passport (now why in the world do I need an exit-reentry stamp BEFORE I travel? I think that's just ridiculous)and anyway I was scared for a few minutes (okay, hours) that I would either a)not be allowed to leave and make use of the thousands of dollars I've spent on this trip or b)not be allowed to come home and lose just about the same amount because I wouldn't be able to go back to work. Then there was the moment when I discovered (falsely) that I did NOT actually have a copy of David's deployment orders, which is my ticket to getting his ticket refunded. But then I lifted the top piece of paper and there they were, those beautiful things! And then a couple times during Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. Oh, and once more when I read that one of my ScrapVillage friends may be losing a pet. I always hate to hear about losing pets.
I've also had a few near-tears moments, like when I finally got a package slip, but not until 8pm because I stayed at work so long and the post office was closed so I couldn't pick it up. It better not be my Robo-shirt. I'll be mad! Can't find out until next week anyway. Also, I have measured my carry-on suitcase (since I don't have time to check bags) about 8 times and weighed myself with the suitcase to make sure it doesn't exceed 40 pounds. I think it's only 25 pounds.
So I'm excited to actually get there and stop being overwhelmed and just be...at the pool, in a lounge chair, with an umbrella drink... aaahhhhh. And I'll wait until the last day to think about that pesky exit-reentry stamp again.
Until next time... You can find me here if you need me:

12 of 12

I didn't think I'd get 12 pictures since I took a David nap today. A David nap is a nap that lasts a whole lot longer than a normal person nap. I think a normal person nap could be between 20 and maybe 90 minutes. A David nap, on the other hand, lasts at least 2 hours. Or in my case today (yesterday) 4 or 5 hours. But in the hours of the day that I WAS awake, here's what I did:

08:12. Jill, Rhonda and I went for an 8 mile run this morning. It was my first run in these new socks and I LOVE them. Love them, love them, love them! They have these great little tabs that keep them from sliding down into your shoes. Yeah, could've used those during the marathon... Anyway, I especially love that they are labeled with "R" and "L". That is so cute! And think of how handy it would be if there were little windows cut into my shoes so they would show... when someone says "turn right at the corner" I wouldn't even have to think...just look down at my sock.

08:30 After running, but before showering, I couldn't help but admire my new stuff that arrived on Friday. More of the same running socks (3 pairs in all), my fabulous Jordana Paige Knitting Satchel...it's even huger than I thought it would be!...and some lovely and fancy silver shoes that were specifically ordered to wear with an icy blue dress I plan to wear to my friend Rachel's wedding in July. But I'll wear them way more than that. Now that I think of it, I should put a picture of the dress on here later.

09:20 Yum yum! Brownies for breakfast! These are delicious! Don't worry...I didn't eat them all for breakfast, I had cut them and taken a whole bunch to share at school and at David's office as a way to say, "Thank you for coming to put my spare tire on my car".

09:30. I filled my knitting bag so I could take it on its first outing. I got a 10:00 appointment at Saturday Clinic to see what is wrong with my ears. Sounds are muffled, as they sometimes are when I'm getting a cold, but so far, no cold. Also, other sounds- the tv, the airco, my students' voices- are magnified to the point of being painful.



09.45 The best thing about going to the clinic is these giant Shi Shi dog statues you pass by on the way in. I also like checking in for my appointments and prescription pick-up by typing my name in the computer. And seeing my name in lights when my prescriptions are ready for pick-up!


10.46 More errands. Depositing some checks into savings, but as it turns out, for some reason I am not authorized to deposit into my savings account? Weird. So I deposited it into checking and then did an internet transfer to savings.

11:00. One last errand, in hopes that a package I'm expecting would arrive. Nope. Just the West Elm catalog, which I love and a pack of ribbon.










11:15. I noticed this droopy flower. I got the bouquet from one of my students for Teacher Appreciation Week. The pink daisy in the back was a student council Mother's Day fundraiser. I guess there was an extra one and the student council sponsor gave it to me.




5:45- I fell asleep at some point and didn't wake up until 5:45. I think I remember waking up and looking at the clock around 2:30, 3:45 and 4:45 and thinking "I need to wake up" but I just couldn't!








18:45 I'm in the midst of unpacking the things I "earned" through my Pampered Chef party (that's what all those checks were for too). I'm always disappointed to realize that the things look bigger in the catalog. But I did get a lot of really fun stuff. Now to find the motivation to use it! I'm sure it will be easier once my dishwasher returns. Only 1 more 12 of 12 and a few more days until he does!




19:15. I decided to go to the Shoppette because I was really hungry for some soup... anything really, since our cupboards are bare...but soup sounded like it would hit the spot. I ended up not even eating the soup. I ate some pretzels and an orange.

20:30. For dessert after my non-dinner, I opted for a Werther's Original. These things are so tasty! I hadn't had one in a really long time, but these two came with my Jordana Paige Knitting Satchel! What a nice touch! I like Jimmy Beans Wool!

I think that's 12, right?
Oh, and the doctor says there's nothing wrong with my ears and gave me Flonase. I thought of trying to take one of my 12 of 12s of myself administering my Flonase, but I couldn't manage holding the bottle, my opposite nostril AND the camera all at once...

Self-Induced Jet Lag

It's Thursday and I'm mostly recovering from the jet lag I gave myself hanging out with people in time zones across America. There was a Virtual Crop at ScrapVillage and those things are just too fun to sleep through. At one point, I had been awake for 22 hours. After having just a 3 hour nap. It was a blast! I made 23 layouts, 1 mini album and a card. I had hoped to really stock up on cards, but alas...it just wasn't "in the cards".
Here are 3 of my favorite LOs from the weekend. If you want to see more, just click the link on the side to my gallery at ScrapVillage.




I won a couple prizes this weekend too, and can't wait to get them. Maybe they'll make me feel better about having to spend $307 getting new tires for my car after I got a flat. Apparently my non-flat tires were dangerously "bald" and as we enter rainy season, they needed to be changed.
This week I got a whopping EIGHT packages...but haven't been able to pick any up yet since I was without a car for 2 afternoons and then the post office closed early today. But I also got a whopping eight and a half page letter from my friend Britt, who claims to read my blog but never leaves a comment. Hi, Britt!! If you're reading, keep your calendar open for July 6! More details to follow!
I'm almost finished with the front of the Keyhole Tank sweater I'm knitting from Knit.1 magazine's spring issue.
And now I'm just rambling...

It's not even Thanksgiving!

Usually I manage to wrangle a few family members into playing Scattergories with me on Thanksgiving, but in blog-land, one needs no holidays...I've seen this around lately, most recently on Susan's blog: answer all the questions using the first letter of your first name.

Your Name: Rebecca
1. Famous Singer/Band: R.E.M.
2. 4 letter word: risk
3. Color: ruby red
4. Street: Rodeo Drive, baby!
5. Gifts/Presents: red roses
6. Vehicle: Range Rover
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: road maps (?)
8. Boy Name: Rex
9. Girl Name: Rhiannon
10. Movie Title: Raging Bull
11. Drink: Root Beer
12. Occupation: Realtor
13. Flower: rhododendron
14. Celebrity: Rachael Ray
15. Magazine: Real Simple (Love that magazine!)
16. U.S. City: Reno
17. Pro Sports Teams: Rockies, Rangers, Ravens
18. Fruit: Is rhubarb a fruit? Anyway, raspberries.
19. Reason for Being Late for Work: Um...Running late? Oh, or Ran out of gas. That would be something I'd do.
20. Something You Throw Away: Rubbish
21. Things You Shout: Run for your lives!!!
22. Cartoon Character: Rainbow Brite

What does Rebecca need?

This has been floating around... I noticed it on Krista's blog this morning.
All you do is google "your-first-name needs". Here's what I need:

1. Rebecca needs enlightenment!
2. Rebecca needs support around her educational goals
3. Rebecca needs a family that will provide her love and support (already have that!)
4. Rebecca needs a family that is structured and consistent
5. Rebecca needs to find out (I guess I need to find out what it is that I need to find out first!)
6. Rebecca needs your help today!
7. Rebecca needs just one good meaty, dramatic role, and the chances of her skyrocketing into fame will increase tenfold
8. Rebecca needs to choose a database (huh?)
9. Rebecca needs to vent (LOL...don't we all, sometimes!)
10. Rebecca needs some love and prayers (don't we all, sometimes!)
11. Rebecca needs a very specific kind of learning environment
12. Rebecca needs to go back to the drawing board
13. Rebecca needs to have a serious think about her job (boy do I feel that from time to time!)
14. Rebecca needs a french or spanish companion.
15. Rebecca needs the receipts from each chapter's recruitment chairs (apparently, unbeknownst to me, I am the president of a sorority?)

Sounds like Rebecca is a very studious and family oriented girl. So I tried to figure out what my alter-ego needs and turns out she is very different...

1. Becca needs a boyfriend
2. Becca needs a prom date
3. Becca needs friends, especially as she doesn't go to school
4. Becca needs to wear fur coats ALL the time!
5. Becca needs excitement
6. Becca needs...(oh dear, better not put that one here as sometimes my Grandma reads!)
7. Becca needs to find the sum of 34, 46 and 108
8. Becca needs TiVo
9. Becca needs to be left alone
10. Becca needs to clear the house of evidence of her son. (Better do that before David returns, LOL!)
11. Becca needs to decide on which guy she wants (another one that would be best to do before David's return ;) )
12. And Becca needs to get over herself.
Hmm... I don't think I want to read anymore about Becca's needs.
Oh, and I'm sure somewhere on the other pages of results it must've said Rebecca needs a new Jordana Paige Knitting Satchel. Becca probably needs one too... it would look hot with her fur coat and probably catch her that boyfriend!

Baby goodies. And, I deserve it

Because no month would be complete without a baby shower (I REFUSE to drink the water here...this baby stuff seems to be highly contagious!), here's the latest little items to come off my knitting needles.




After making baby blankets until my fingers ached and repeatedly frogging sweaters, this little hat and booties were delightfully fast--I can measure my time spent on these in hours rather than days, weeks, months, or years *blush*.
These were for one of the special education professionals at school. She's expecting a boy, so it was a great excuse for me to use the "back-up yarn" I had bought just in case my friend Stacy's ultrasound was wrong. I definitely got my ooohs and aaahs at the shower after school today. The great thing about babies is that they don't know how to mind wearing a hat with a bunch of goofy little I-cords hanging off the top. (And I can NOT wait for one of my good-humored friends to have a baby because I've already picked out a pattern for a hat that looks just like a sprinkly sweet and delicious cupcake!) I only hope babies still wear booties...


And now, on to the next portion of my post. I want one of these Jordana Paige Knitting Satchels Probably in the cappuccino color. Although I also like the Cypress green. But the red is so fabulous too. But I think you can't go wrong with brown. Unless you're all in black, in which case I'd need the red. Anyway, everytime I look at them my heart goes all aflutter (and I've been looking at them for a long time...should've asked for one for Christmas like I wanted to in the first place) They're gorgeous. And large enough to double as a "personal item" on my flight to Cabo. A book, magazine and a couple of socks to knit (my airplane project) would fit comfortably. Plus there is a little zippered pouch that is removable which I could put my passport/tickets in. Can't you practically HEAR this bag calling my name?? Yikes about the price, though. But I've been sitting here all by myself for over 2 and a half months and I think that warrants me getting a fantastic bag. I don't think it's too much to ask...

If bruises looked like the things that caused them,

I'd have four new lime green, fuzzy bruises on my body! Last week I got hit in the mouth with a tennis ball. As if that wasn't bad enough... tonight I got hit in the head (twice) on the back (once) and on the arm (once). I also had several near misses. Very near misses. Like, "duck and cover" near misses. So I ask this--- is it that I'm a bad tennis player that I can't hit the ball? Or does it mean that the people that I play with--the ones hitting me with the balls-- are bad at tennis?

I don't know whether to be flattered or irritated...

How ridiculous is it that I seriously could have RUN A MARATHON in the amount of time I was on the phone with Expedia today? If I would have known I'd be on the phone for over four hours (and on hold for amost half of it) I would've packed a lunch and possibly a bed pan. I hope Dreams Resorts Los Cabos has lots of Mojitos prepared for me... by the time all this travel-schmavel stuff is over, I'm gonna need 'em!

12 of 12, right on time!

Who are those people who spend their spring breaks drinking, dancing and doing other things that will most likely end them up on Girls Gone Wild? My 12 pictures show a pretty accurate reflection of how I've spent MY spring break this year. In fact, it's pretty much how I've spent all of my spring breaks.

9:15- Pajama Day

The whole week has been full of pajama days!














9:45- Keyhole Tank, 8.75 inches.

This is my latest knitting project. I'm actually working on a little baby hat for a shower I'm going to as well, but I've focused on this this week. I started it on Monday, after taking apart another sweater I had started with the same yarn. The yarn was originally supposed to be used for a baby project, but since I ordered online and didn't have a color card, I didn't know until the yarn arrived that it was really just not babyish. So I'm making a sweater with it. Not that I really want to wear this color either, but I do have a white skirt with yellow/gold embroidered flowers that it will go with. It'll be good practice.




15:30- Time to shower.

Perhaps the greatest thing about spring break is not having to shower until I feel like it. In fact, I didn't really feel like showering this afternoon. How bad is it that I think the secret reason that I did not shower is because by the time I would get out of the shower, it would be too late for me to go to a killer strength/conditioning class at the gym?




16:10- Party Prep

Eek! I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party next Saturday and haven't passed out my invites yet. I wrote some out today so I could take them to the ladies in my tennis class. And don't forget, you too can be invited to my party, even if you're not going to be in the neighborhood! If there's anything you need to order from the catalog but don't know anyone hosting a Pampered Chef party (and I'm jealous of you if you don't know anyone hosting a party, seems the ladies here have them every other week!) click here




17:00- Tennis, anyone?

Actually, this picture was taken when I returned from my hour tennis lesson, so probably closer to 6:15. The bad thing (if it's possible) about not going to work is that I don't think all the pistons in my brain were fully functioning. So today's tennis lesson wasn't as great as last week. The best thing about tennis today was actually hitting the ball over the next a couple times. The worst thing was my cat-like reflexes NOT activating in time to save me from being hit right in the mouth by a speeding tennis ball.




18:30- Putting off til tomorrow...

I had really intended to go to my classroom today, and stop at the post office to drop off our class penpal letters on the way. I also was going to stop at the library to return the book I finished Tuesday night too. Maybe tomorrow... My Sister's Keeper was a great book, by the way.







19:00- What happens when I don't plan ahead.

Yuck. This is what I had for dinner. I didn't feel like eating Stuffed French Toast for the 100th time since Sunday, so I dug through the freezer and found this. At least it was a good excuse to have some condiments. I love condiments! Tartar sauce, ketchup, mustard & ranch. Yum.




19:18- Stop voting for Sanjaya!

Here's the bottom 3 of American Idol tonight. (forgive the hot spot) Chris Richardson, what??? I love him. He's a good singer. He's not at all creepy. He is positively hot. So how come he's in the bottom 3 and Sanjaya, who gives me the heebie-jeebies, is still going strong?




20:53- Carthaginians, Start your Engines!

That's Chuck, the one in the upper right corner. I think he graduated a year behind me. He was on the track team. He was my roommate's boyfriend for a little while. And now he's making me feel like I'm one of just a small handful of Carthaginians that hasn't been on tv. (One of the Deal or No Deal girls is a Carthage grad and some guy who graduated way before me is doing an MTV show called Juvies, which takes place in my hometown) Oh, the show is called Bull Run, on Spike TV. At the end of tonight's episode (which is two weeks or so behind the episodes in the states), his team is in first place! Go Chuck!




21:20- Cirque du Celine

Yes I know I watch entirely too much tv. But really, it's just on in the background while I do other stuff. I was planning to watch the newest Lost episode, but I saw Kathy Griffin on Bravo and couldn't pass it up. I've watched this particular act 4 or 5 times but always crack up during the Celine Dion segment. I love Celine Dion. I saw her concert at Ceasar's Palace(which Kathy's act centers around), her CD has been in my car CD player for a whole week now (I can't listen to it at home because I'm afraid my neighbors will hear me belting out and, of course, come downstairs in search of Celine's autograph) but the things Kathy Griffin says are just too funny.




22:40-Let the Armhole Shaping Begin!

Not as much progress as I wanted to make today, but I was happy to make it to the armhole shaping.





23:40- The Opposite of Progress

Arrrggghhh. I should've quit an hour ago. Notice that my work in progress is now an inch shorter than it was earlier. Knitting and not being able to keep your eyes open do not mix. I ended up with a giant hole, some ladders and some weird portion of the row coming undone even though I was knitting away in the middle. So I started taking it apart and this is where I ended up.

From the kitchen of the Grilled Cheese Queen

There was a time when the only things I was willing to cook were grilled cheese sandwiches. Grilled cheese plain, gc with tomatoes, apples, mushrooms, peanut butter, ham, you name it, I experimented with it. The summer before I went to college, I lived on grilled cheese sandwiches--after all, I had to prepare myself for the move up to the land of cheese!

But, grilled cheese probably wouldn't have been a big hit at my Easter breakfast, even though I do make the very best. You can even ask my mom. So I made somethings that I thought would be more pleasing to my guests. Just 2 guests, one a very picky eater. I have plenty of food to feed a lot more people, but I didn't want to dust off my extra chairs!

Here's the menu: (click the links for the recipes!)

Stuffed French Toast I have tons of this leftover! It was filling and delicious. I used frozen blueberries and raspberries, but as I was picking little raspberry seeds out of my back molars, I wished that I had left them out!

Spinach Salad with Strawberries & Grapefruit This was tasty and refreshing! The grapefruit I bought was so incredibly juicy and delicious!

Garden Vegetable Omelet Wreath- This recipe was from the Pampered Chef cookbook, All the Best. Hey! I'm having a Pampered Chef party this month... if you want to order this cookbook and everything else you need to make the delicious garden vegetale omelet wreath, you can order from my party by clicking here You get your stuff shipped directly to you, and I get hostess credit.

Carrot-Raisin Muffins- The recipe was from another Pampered Chef cookbook, Stoneware Inspirations. See above if you want to order that cookbook and help me get a half-price panini press ;)

Citrus Brunch Punch Nobody drank any of this at all. I made Mimosas too and Jill & Scott live less than 400 meters away, so they walked here...and that's why I have no Mimosa and a whole pitcher of citrus brunch punch!

Mimosas- Champagne & O.J. 'nuff said!


Lemon Pudding Cheesecake I had to run out to the BX in the rain an hour before they closed to buy a springform pan in which to make this cheesecake. It was worth it!
Sky High Brunch Bake and Peppered Bacon Twists Okay, I actually didn't make these things, although I bought the ingredients for them. Due to the fact that I drank 3 and a half frappuccinos the day before (see below), I had a bit of a tummy-ache when I woke up and my carefully planned preparation schedule went a bit off kilter. That's why I didn't make the bacon twists. I didn't make the brunch bake because I didn't have a second springform pan. I had enough cash for either 2 springform pans or one pan and the April 2007 Creating Keepsakes magazine and I went with the magazine. I'll make these things next weekend or another day this week.

Here's my table centerpiece/party favors. That's why I had to drink all the frappuccinos. Notice how the Easter eggs (except the pink one) match my tablecloth! My guests forgot to take their party favors home!