I am here!

Jackson and I arrived safe and sound to Guadalajara (GDL) on Wed night. When I arrived in Mexico City to wait for my connecting flight, I felt so anxious and was worrying about Jackson. In Calgary, there was a problem printing my boarding pass, so I did not have one for my Mexico City-GDL flight which made for some difficulties when trying to pass through check points at the airport. They would ask me in Spanish - where is your boarding pas and I would try to explain in my Spanglish that they were not able to print one for me in Calgary. Eventually, I made it through to my next gate and went to the Mexicana gate to ask them to check on Jackson. THey phoned the holding area where he was and they said he was fine and they would feed him and give him water (yeah right). I had met another Canadian family on the plane and when I went to eat at a restuarant, I ran into them again and they asked me to join them to eat. That definitely helped take my mind off everything.

I was so nervous and anxious about Jackson so when I arrived in Guadalajara and was waiting for my luggage, my heart was beating a mile a minute. All of a sudden, I see the kennel come around on the baggage carousel. And there was Jackson looking out at everyone and looking for me. All the people waiting for their luggage were saying hola perrito, hola Jackson! I had his name on his kennel............the sign on his kennel said in big letters, Hello, my name is JAckson and this is my first time flying! He was so excited to see me. He started crying and kissing me all over when I got him out of the kennel. He was such a good boy - he did not even pee. He managed to hold it for over 13 hours! Amazing!

So there I was trying to load my 6 bags and totes onto two baggage carts along with Jackson´s kennel. What a sight that must have been! I could barely lift some of the heavier totes. Fortunately, two of the Mexican airport staff came to my assistance and helped load everything for me. WHen I went through customs, they asked to see the paperwork on Jackson and made me put him back in the kennel. He barely reviewed the paperwork and said, push the button. It flashed green which meant I did not have to have my luggage searched. Thank god - that would have taken forever with all my bags and totes and we had duck-taped the hell out of them. And Jackson was crying to go outside becuase he had to pee so bad. When I went outside, Arturo was not there. The two guys carrying my luggage said he might be at the other end of the terminal. So they hauled all my stuff down there and he was nowhere to be found. I tried phoning his cell several times but no answer. At this point, the two Mexican men helping me were saying ¨would you like us to call you a cab? I started to panic.........where the hell would I go? So i asked if we could go back to the other side of the airport to look again. Then I saw Arturo´s brother... I almost cried with relief when I saw him. He explained to me that there was a huge thunder and rain storm and the streets were flooded and it took them 3 times as long to get to the airport. Arturo was on his way and arrived in our car a few minutes later. It was a tearful reunion........ We loaded all of my luggage into two cars and we all drove to Manzanillo immediately. We stopped to get jackson some supper and did not get into Manzanillo until 2am. Since the roads were flooded, it took us forever to get out of Guadalajara.

Yesterday, we woke up and went to Marta´s with Jackson to say hello. Then we went to say hello to Christina and Umberto at Las Gaviotas - the condo where we usually stay when we came on vacation. Christina let us hang out at Las Gaviotas (even with Jackson - dogs are not allowed normally). We took Jackson down to the beach with a ball and threw it around for a long time. He loved it!

We still do not have our wireless connection hooked up so I will try to update every few days at an internet cafe. Thanks so much to everyone for all their well wishes.

I took many pictures at the beach yesterday and will try to post them in a few days.

A big thanks to everyone who came out on Tuesday night for a final farewell. I was so emotional after saying goodbye to all of you. I wonder what I will do without all of you on a daily basis. You are so very special to me and I have been thinking of you every day. Hugs and kisses my friends - I really hope to see you soon.

Adios Canada!

Well, the farewell party has come and gone and I am feeling incredibly blessed and also very sad. It is going to be so hard to say goodbye to my friends and family. Since my farewell party, I have been reflecting on just how fortunate I am to be surrounded by the friends in my life. I can honestly say that I have cried on a daily basis thinking about all of you and how much I will miss you.


What can I say.........the farewell was touching, laugh out loud funny, tears and the usual gong show. I finished in fine form.........do you all forgive me for not saying a proper good night? And I was lucky enough to have my dearest friend fly up to surprise me. And all the way from the "boonies". Just kidding L, I will never forget my roots. And thanks to the hosts/organizers of the event - it was a blast and I really appreciate your efforts.



And what else has been happening this last little while.....a few of my friends had asked me why I had not posted anything lately. To be honest, I have been entirely consumed by getting ready for this move. At times, I felt completely paralyzed by the seemingly gargantuan task of preparing to leave a country. Lets see, what else....Oh, yeah, I got my first tattoo. I thought it fitting with my new transition. And to all of you who told me it does not hurt that much....liar liar, pants on fire!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was an especially emotional day. I moved out of my house - possession was at noon. I realized that I had over 9 years of memories in that place. Many laughs, many tears and countless precious moments. And to all my Melrose friends.......I love you and will miss you. You are going to have to travel a bit further than down a few stairs to have some cocktails together now!!!! And to my dear friend who helped me with all the "heavy lifting" in my move. I love you dearly and will always be incredibly grateful for everything you have done for me.


Wednesday is the big day when I leave for Mexico. I cannot believe the day is almost here. My next post will be from Mexico.

Again, a big thanks to all my dear friends who helped drive me around to get everything done. I am going to miss all of you so much.

Farewell Party

I cannot even believe this day is almost here - my farewell party scheduled for this Saturday. I have been so busy packing and getting organized to leave the country while also trying to spend quality time with friends and family that I can't believe that the party is almost here. I have so many emotions running through me right now....it is going to be so difficult to say goodbye to everyone. It definitely feels bittersweet - I am excited to leave and start this new adventure of my life but I am also going to find it so hard to leave my amazing friends and family. The thing that gives me comfort is that many of you are coming to visit me very soon. I can honestly say that I am very blessed and have the most wonderful friends and family.....But what will I do without all of you on a regular basis?

One last camping weekend with the girls!

I have been away since Friday morning doing one last camping trip in the Rocky Mountains before I go. I went with my niece and my two cousins.......one last girls weekend before I leave.

Even though the weather was rainy and on the chilly side, we had such a great time and lots of laughs. It was an emotional goodbye today.......my cousins are like sisters to me. They are wonderful young women and I cannot believe how fast they have grown up. And then there is my niece.....she and I are "BFF's" and I have been lucky enough to have one whole week with her. I have cherished this week with her and am not ready to say goodbye. I will miss her and my cousins so so much. Fortunately, I know that my niece is coming to visit in Mexico for 3 weeks at Christmas so that will keep me going.

I realized that I will also really miss the Rocky Mountains and their raw beauty. We were camping on a lake surrounded by mountains and I took Jackson for a swim every day.

Overall, the weekend was very relaxing, with the exception of Sunday night. At around 1am, Jackson woke us up with insane barking and baying and tore out of the tent through a small hole and started running around the tent frantically. I had never seen him act this way - I ran out after him and looked around but could not see anything in the woods. Nor was I about to set out to look! I brought him back in and tried to calm him down....then about 2 hours later, the same thing happened. Eventually, he calmed down. Around sunrise, yet another repeat performance from Jackson, so I looked outside the tent through a window and much to my shock, saw a rather large grizzly bear about 15-20 feet from the tent. I was frozen in shock - I could not move at all. All I could do was watch it helplessly. At one point, the bear turned around and looked in the direction of the tent........I was holding my breath, I was so scared. Then, it turned around and slowly walked away. I watched him until I could no longer see him in the woods. The next few hours seemed like an eternity. Eventually, my niece and I got enough courage to get out of the tent where we took a survey of our campsite. Nothing was damaged.......there was nothing in our campsite at all besides water bottles and camping chairs. All we saw were his very large footprints around our entire campsite. All I could think about was all the terrible stories about bear attacks on humans and how lucky we were.

Well, I am going to miss camping and hiking in the mountains, but the grizzlies, well, not so much.

Moving Sale - Part One

Here are the photos from my moving sale. Notice the two greeters........they were not for sale!

Jackson preparing to fly

I have been busy getting my beagle ready for his first ever flight. We have purchased the airline regulation kennel, we have got some homeopathic stuff to "relax" him for the big day (and Mom too!). I have started getting him used to his new kennel and now he seems to go in there all by himself, without any coaxing from me. Much to my relief, he likes it and seems to enjoy chilling in there.

He has almost all of his vaccinations.......his last set of needles is next week. Poor dog has been through alot for the big move to Mexico. I think I have stressed more about him and how he will cope on his first flight and how he will adjust to our new life in Mexico than I have about myself.

He absolutely loves the water, but I ask myself, will he love ocean water just as much? He has only ever swam in fresh water lakes like the one in the picture below in the Rocky Mountains.

New wheels!

Well, I had to say goodbye to my beloved VW after almost 11 years of memories. After selling it the other evening, I have been reflecting on all the roadtrips and memories in that little car. Meanwhile, Arturo has been looking for a car for us to share once I arrive in Manzanillo. Well, as of yesterday, the deal was finalized and here is a photo of our car. Yes, this is a new and much improved version of my old car! It is a 2001 and is in very good condition. Isn't is pretty?