Soused

Hey, when did uploading photos on blogger become such a pain in the asshole?! I had a carefully planned, witty post all set and blogger is being a complete and utter asshole.

Here's some pictures of me and SB and his friends in Lake George. I'm crabby!

"Cheech" is SB's other nickname.

SB made brisket & ribs.

I'm really full of meat!

Audi 5000

I'm on vacation right now! These will be my last words until Monday :D

Summertime Fun

These were are digs for the weekend. SB and I headed up to Glimmerglass State Park on Friday out in Cooperstown. iPhone must have had a bug up it's butt because we circled around the camp ground for 30 minutes before we got there. ARG!

The major pro for staying @ GG was the Otswego Lake located w/in several feet of our "primitive' camp site. The water almost looked blue, it was like swimming in a bath tub, y'all! Gorgeous!


SB rigged up a clothes line a protective covering for his beer. But the fascists that run the camp site said it against the rules to have ropes hanging from the trees.

Here's the new and poopier version :(

Another pro for the camp ground is they sell dirt cheap fire wood, $5 a bundle.






SB & I had a last minute conversation about the food we wanted to prepare. Dogs, corn on the cob and one night out for dinner. And a mystery bag! At the bottom of our chest freezer, I found a vacuum sealed bag of patties. It came from my Extra Helpings meat box but I couldn't remember what exactly it was. As it defrosted, it became apparent there was onions and peppers in the discs. SB reasoned it must be sausage. Nope, they turned out to be hamburgers. Tasty too!






This corn had a weird baby cornlet/Siamese twin/mutation attached to it. It wasn't edible but this cute little chipmunk sure enjoyed it.



After another delicious swim on Saturday, it was time to hit the showers. Our site only had Port-o-Johns. I'm still trying to forget about them! The beach only had toilets and changing rooms. Where, oh where, could the showers be? Turns out they only had one set of showers at the sites located waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy far away from ours. Plus no parking by the showers. Loooooooonnnnng walk.

After the trek to the showers, we went to Ommegang Brewery for a tour and tasting. We got the Witte, a nice, light summer brew, and Rare Vos which was indescribably good. I also got some dark chocolate w/ pomegranate.

And hey, guess what, there is a Stagecoach Coffee in Coopertown. Neato!

We had cheap eats at a little pub, SB had surf n' turf and I had gigantic prime rib.

That night there was a double thunderstorm. The sky was lit up like Chernobyl w/ only a thin covering of nylon to protect us. It went on for hours on end. It was oddly exhilarating!

Next vacation in August...

Please Leave a Message

My iPhone has a crack on it's face and it's going into the shop. I feel like my arm has been chopped off.

I won't be around for a few days as SB & I are headed to Cooperstown area for camping and checking out the brew factories.

Be back on Monday!

Memorialize This!

Off to the Adirondacks for a few days! See you on Monday...

My Weekend

Even though the closing on our housing was Aug 28th and Sexybeast has done next to no packing in his apartment, we went to visit some friends this weekend in Vernon, NY for a 30th birthday celebration.

Really, the boys wanted to geek out and played some stupid game called Hero Scape. Whatever. I spent time w/ other wives and the new baby. I read Julie & Julia in a day and a half. I preferred the bits about Julia Child, Julie is really self-absorbed and annoying. My friend Melissa and I watched Gosford Park. Clive Owen!!! We had "cooking school" w/ Steph. I can now make the best mac n' cheese and oatmeal cookies.

We drank. We laughed. We sang along to classic rock.

Saturday night we sat on their over sized homemade picnic table and gorged ourselves on said mac n' cheese and a grilled pork loin. Which was Sexybeast's and mine contribution to the festivities. It was my gubmint special, an 8 lb loin for 18 bucks. We ate 4 lbs of it.

I also rediscovered the joys of the dollar store. I got a cool popcorn bowl for the new house. Guess how much I paid for it?

We left late morning to get back to the house to finish up the last of the cleaning. But we did stop for an early lunch at El Canelo for the 7.99 all you can eat lunch buffet. I had chili rellenos, chilaquiles, chicken fajitas, refried beans and a ton of other things. Normally, I stay away from buffets. I find the food to be of poor quality and then it sits there getting cold and congealed. If yr ever in Vernon, get thee to El Canelo.

After dinner, the moon was full and brightly coloured leaves on the trees looked so serene. And I felt like I finally fit in.

Here's Some Stuff

I've been Rutty Rutterson lately. But in an effort not to wallow in my self pity, I've put together a list of new shit I really dig.

1. Sally Hanson Face Wax, why pay more at the salon to be that sexy non-hormonally challenged mamacita, when you can wax cheaply and in the privacy of yr own home.

2. My lovely and talented friend Wicked Messenger at http://13stepsunder.blogspot.com turned me onto Laughing Cow cheese. The Babybel Chedder flavour is the tits, man! Especially on Kashi "triscuits".

3. My renewed interest in ska. I had the honour and privilege to see The English Beat live last week. Dave Wakeling still has his voice, they were amazing and they played "Save it for Later" last. My fave! And yes I did wear black and white.

I'm going on vacation to Lake George. Lots of swimming and drinking abound. And healthy snacks, can't forget those! I'll be back next week.

That Summer Wind

Well, amigos I am off for a 5 day vacation in Swan Lake, NY. Whereby I'll be drinking White Russians starting at 11 am until last man standing, interspersed w/ poker and watching movies and drinking games.

Back on Monday!! Happy Independence Day!!!

Acapulco Day 7 (Last Day!)

We went to breakfast w/ SexyBeast's parents to 100% Natural. A Mexican version of a green cafe. You get a completely different perspective on recycling, clean air and ecology by being a 2nd world country. It's just not ingrained in the culture to put a plastic bottle in the garbage even. Anyways, 100% is one the few vegetarian eateries around. I had a spicy veggie omelet the size of my head w/ runny pinto beans and a strawberry vanilla pecan yoghurt smoothie. I left uncomfortably full but mentally healthier : )

SexyBeast is obsessed w/ Westerns, he even has the soundtrack to Django! A week before our trip, he said he wanted a sarape/poncho like Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. We ended up at one of those touristy open markets. I tried to adopt the "don't fuck w/me" look but I don't know if it was a success. We got the sarape (made from alpaca wool!), a knock off Hard Rock T-shirt and fire opal bracelet. Plus I got to pet the tiniest orange kitty. He was so small, his ears looked like a bat.

Then back to the beach, I wanted to remember every moment. I nearly cried when I got my last beach massage. I highly recommend getting a massage on the beach from the locals. She went everywhere! Well, not like that pervs!

Last meal, I got all dressed up in my Little Black Dress that I've never worn since I bought it. Mostly because of my yo-yo dieting. SexyBeast snapped some pictures much to my protest. Then I screamed about how fat and unappealing I looked. Then he screamed at me that my self-deprecation was getting old. I think I'll get more into this issue in a future post.

We went to Cabrito's (little goat) and SexyBeast had the best mole chicken in the universe. The sauce is secret blend of herbs and spices. I was gobsmacked! I chowed down on filet mignon. It was bloody and good and bloody good.

We sat out on the balcony, silent and pensive.

The trip home was uneventful. Hope you enjoyed my vacation as much as I did.

Acapulco Day Six

I was really confused when I awoke. Did we really just sleep for almost 15 hours? What the hell is wrong w/ me? SexyBeast emerged from the shower and said "Breakfast?" I hurriedly washed my face and brushed my teeth.

We went to the hotel restaurant "Bugambilias", which is a flower grown only in Acapulco. I ate like it was my last meal. Holy cow, they were lucky I didn't start eating the flower arrangements. I got to partake of my favourite dishes, not only is it my fave Mexican dish, but it probably ranks in the all time top 10 Phairhead's Favourite Things to Eat (like a piggy!), chilaquiles. Essentially it is day old tortillas soaked in water and then sauteed and served w/ either green or red sauce and generous amounts of Oaxan cheese. It's very hard to find queso mexicano here in the U.S. but from time to time I would purchase it from my grocery store in Claremont,NH.

SexyBeast wanted to get some nice sipping tequila so we trucked off to Mall-Wart. Another great thing about Mexican Mall-Warts, you can get Nexium over the counter. And oddly, they keep the sunglasses bolted down. SexyBeast was nervous about taking the bus by ourselves and counted on me to remember our stop. In Mexico, you have to hail a bus. And there is no occupancy limit. So sometimes, cute and clever red heads end up LITERALLY hanging out of the bus.

Then back to the beach. I started a new book, a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl. SexyBeast asked if I liked it. I'll summarize, if the main character doesn't end up dead, disgraced or dehumanized in some way, then it's not a Roald Dahl.

SexyBeast and I went out to dinner by ourselves. We ended up at Tio Alex (Uncle Alex), I had the enchiladas rojas (red enchiladas). Wowie wow! They were succulent and I nearly licked my plate. SexyBeast had surf and turf. We decided to look for a quiet bar to drink and talk. Good luck trying to find that kind place in Mexico. They just don't have good dive bars.

Hopefully, I'm not boring the pants off of everyone.....

Acapulco Day Five

The phone rang at 5:30 am, I fumbled for the phone. No one there. The phone rang again 3 minutes later. "This is yr 5:30 wake up call...." I mumbled incoherently and hung up. At 5:45 the alarm on SexyBeast's iphone went off. "Have fun fishing," I said grumpily. But SexyBeast can be persuasive when he wants to be. I stumbled out of bed and washed my face and brushed my teeth.

Our tour guide Toro ("Bull") met us outside and after a quick stop at the OXXO, the local Qwikee Mart, for a SexyBeast's coffee, we set sail mateys. We saw the sun rise over the Bay of Acapulco and I thanked my lucky stars.

After about 10 minutes, the ship crew, Alejandro and Domingo, put the bait in the sea and we waited sleepily for a bite. In a matter of minutes, SexyBeast and (step)Dad got 2 nice sized black tuna. Then a marlin got away. Sucky baseball team, sucky fish. Then Captain Ahab (SexyBeast) caught the white whale (a sailfish). He reeled an 8ft sailfish after 30 mins. And to round out the day, I got a teeny tiny tuna.

SexyBeast & I took turns taking naps. The sea grew choppy and the smell of gasoline was making me queasy. Thank the gods that SexyBeast bought me green iced tea, which combined w/ potato chips and peanuts soothed my yucky belly.

We ate our bounty on the beach w/ icy cold beer. For those of you not in the know, I am not a fish lover by any means. But freshly caught fish made simply w/ onion, garlic and hot sauce is pretty fucking amazing. I stopped after scarfing down 3 fish tacos.

Full of fish and still stinking of morning....... well stink, we decided to shower, nap and have late snack. We showered, I watched cheesy ass American Pie 2 while SexyBeast slept. Then he read while I slept. Then we slept w/ the lights on. SexyBeast's mom called to find out evening plans. Neither of us could carry on a decent conversation w/ her. Then we slept and housekeeping knocked at our door. We forgot to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Oops! SexyBeast hastily put on a pair of shorts and grabbed our fresh towels.

Then we turned out the lights and slept some more.

Acapulco Day Four

We awoke refreshed and feeling fine and dandy like sour candy.

Feb 10th was a very important day for me. It was the full moon. I have always felt a strong affinity w/ the moon. Perhaps because I was born during a full moon, my email addie is luna_1021@hotmail.com and luna is derived from the Latin from lunatic. Yup that pretty much me all over.

This particular day, SexyBeast and I checked out the pool because there was waaaaaaaaay too much garbage floating in the ocean. I was not disappointed by the chlorinated pool. I am much happier in water than on land.

As I have noted previously, SexyBeast's parents have been going to Acapulco for the past decade. As such, they have acquired many Mexican friends. For dinner that evening, we went out to an Italian place called Maretto's w/ the 'rents good friend Nacho. Italian is HUGE in Mexico. SexyBeast was joking around w/ me. "We flew 6 hours to go out for Italian?" Maretto's is owned by another friend of the 'rents Carlos. He was beautiful and he can cook. *sigh* So dreamy and bald : ) Anyways, the restaurant overlooked the bay of Acapulco, the night air was sweet and I had the full moon looking over my shoulder.

The downside was I almost didn't get my food. It's a fairly new place and Carlos has never owned a restaurant before so there's still alot of kinks to be worked out. Like the fact that he booked a large birthday party who brought a horrible mariachi band.

Bed at 12:45 and I was questioning whether I wanted to get up at 5:30 am to go fishing...

Acapulco Day Three

I hate to disappoint my readers but day three was more of the same of day two. More lounging, reading, taking in the beauty of my surroundings.

With one critical exception, the tide turned and the ocean was FILTHY. I swear a dirty condom brushed up against my leg. Which prompted SexyBeast to sing the "Dirty Condom" song. The only line I can remember is "Dirty condom/Floatin' in the water...."

For supper that evening, we went to Jovito's. I find that name very strange. In the Spanish language, there is no apostrophe s. More acclimation to American and Canadian tourists I guess. SexyBeast's parents know the owner. He's a playboy gambler w/ a much younger Japanese girlfriend. Little known fact, there is a fast growing Japanese population in Mexico. SexyBeast, myself and (step)Dad had the Bricklayer, a yummy carne asada dish w/ peppers, onions, beans and rice.

SexyBeast's mom wanted to go shopping after dinner. I wanted to walk around the neighborhood. Mexican street merchants usually keep long hours. Perfect for the those late night bargains. SexyBeast and I decided we didn't feel like standing around in the street waiting on the 'rents, so we went to Barbaroja's (Red Beard's) for the 2 for 1 nightly drink specials. I didn't mention this before, but I started off this vacation w/ a head cold. For whatever reason, the thought of drinking any alcoholic beverage at was going to make me boot. So I stuck w/ soda and tried to ignore the horrible throbbing sensation on the left side of my head. Here's a tip, loud and annoying 1970's disco music does not help a pounding headache. At some point, SexyBeast's parents joined us and we sat for one more set of drinks before I crawled back to the hotel.

Sleeping w/ SexyBeast made me feel infinitely better.

Acapulco Day Two

SexyBeast and I woke up in total bliss at 8:30. Nearly 11 hours of sleep!

I started off the day by reading under the umbrella. I borrowed The Watchmen from my oldest brother Christofoe in preparation for the movie. I'll post more on that after I've seen the film. Then SexyBeast and I walked along the beach. Here's a tip, folks, beach walking time is best when the sun is not approaching it's zenith. It was hot and my too big flip flops were not conducive to leisure walking.

Vacation makes you lose all sense of time. Sometime after swimming in the ocean, I decided to drink a few pina coladas. It could have been at 11 am for all I knew.

We took a break from relaxing to go to Walmart to get money and drinks and cheap liquor. As many of you know, I AM NOT a proponent of Walmart in any way, shape or form. I did not go there by choice..... and neither do the Mexicans. Whilst I was living in Guadalajara in 1997, the big department store was Gigante. Gigante has since folded and has been taken over by Mall-Wart. That being said, it was clean, the food was fresh and delicious and the people working there knew what they were doing.

Then more swimming, relaxing and falling asleep beach side.

SexyBeast decided he wanted fish for dinner, so we all went to Paradise, another wonderful seaside restaurant. Great thing about this trip, SexyBeast's parents have been going to Acapulco for over a decade. They are in the know. SexyBeast had his red tail snapper (which incidentally is not in fact red) and I tucked into beef skewers.

That night we actually stayed up until 10:30. Woot!

Acapulco Day One

Let's begin the beguine, people.

SexyBeast had a loooooooooong way to go to get to Acapulco. We started off taking the train from Rennselaer to Penn Station. We had a bit of wait at Penn and holy cow did I enjoy people watching. I saw a scary middle aged man hit on every woman sitting by herself. He told this one poor girl that she looked like Rachel Ray. "She's gorgeous and so are you!" Then he started in on his shoe fetish. The woman promptly got out her cell phone and scary guy left in pursuits of love from another. SexyBeast & I noticed that scary guy had no luggage or other gear w/ him. We concluded that he prowls the train stations looking for the ladies. Then there was the obligatory crazy guy yelling at no one. I didn't want to be so and I looked to see if he was plugged into a bluetooth. He wasn't. Sadly. And best of all, angry guy dissolving his marriage over the phone. Apparently, his wife has left him for another woman w/ 5 kids in Virginia. And, GODDAMMIT, never answers her phone!

Another great thing about Penn was the cheap and tasty pizza which I promptly dumped on my white shirt. Why do I even bother to wear white?

We boarded the train that brought us to Newark International airport. Being in Jersey, made me realize how much I don't like being Jersey. We were to take the air tram to P1 for all Continental flights. So it stops at the 1st stop and we get screamed at. "Get out! Get out!" Ummm... this isn't our stop. "It's being cleaned and the other tram is broken!" OK? So, how long do we have to wait for the next tram? "I don't know!"

So we finally get to Continental and it's about 12:30 am. No counters open, no airport people able to tell us when we could get our tickets. Nothing. We slept on and off until about 3:30. It's quite an experience to sleep in an airport chair.

Then all of sudden the airport comes alive! We find someone who sorta knows what their talkin' about. And we're walking along, when this woman screeches at me, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Please bear in mind, I'm tired, delirious, unshowered and more than a little cranky. So I didn't answer right away. "WELL?" SexyBeast tells her Mexico. "YOU HAVE TO GET IN LINE HERE!!!!" Then sarcastic bitchy me kicks in. "Thanks. Have a nice day, ma'am." Smirky smirkyton. "I'M BEING NICE AND TRYING TO HELP YOU!!!!! AND YR STARING ME AT LIKE I HAVE 2 HEADS!" "Yup, I'll be sure to have a nice flight." Then not 2 seconds later she started screeching at a middle aged couple who dared to move the velvet rope so they could better maneuver their large suitcases. "SIR!!! YOU CANNOT TOUCH THAT! YOU HAVE TO WALK AROUND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!"

tee hee : ) So we finally get to our gate and decide to have some eats at Au Bon Pain. I had an egg sandwich on ciabatta. 6.50! No drink either, peeps. SexyBeast had a sesame bagel w/ cream cheese. When he asked for it to be toasted, he was refused as all of Au Bon's toasters were broken. Lame.

Relatively quiet flight from Newark to Houston. And what a world of difference, the people in Houston were soooooooo polite and friendly. Because of the time change and weird hours we had been keeping, SexyBeast & I went for lunch at 9 am at this little diner place. I had a BLT salad and mojito. SexyBeast had a burger and whiskey.

Unfortunately, we were not sitting together for the ride to Acapulco. Bummer.

We landed in Acapulco, got through customs no problem. And were met w/ by SexyBeast's (step)father and his sign "Gringo Estupido". FYI, estupido is a really huge insult in Mexico. If you need to, use the word tonto/a.

Then it hit me, I was back in Mexico. I spent a semester abroad in Guadalajara almost 12 years ago. And I've been itching to get back. I was beyond happy. And also, really fucking hot. Holy cow, I forgot how humid it can get there!

We get to our hotel, El Presidente, right on the main strip of "old" Acapulco. It's kinda like the difference between "new" Vegas and "old" Vegas. Point of fact, snobby people want to vacation in Mexico but they don't want to be near any actual Mexicans. Our room had 2 double beds, big shower and an A/C that worked really well. Best of all, THE VIEW. We were literally feet from the ocean.

SexyBeast & I both hopped in the shower (not like that! his parents were waiting) to rinse the stink off. Then we hit the beach. Or rather, the lounge chairs under the umbrella in front of the beach.

After 15 minutes of sweating, we hit the water. Ouch, hot sand! Whoa, strong tide! Eep, don't stick yr face in the ocean, very very salty. And then, hey I'm in paradise, in the blue water under the clear sky. Keep on swimming, little guppy.

We got out of the water to enjoy guacamole, real salsa and a few beers. Heaven! Just as the sun was dipping down, 'round 6ish, we reshowered and headed out to eat at Tacos N' Beer. Guess what they served? I liked it alot. Low key, quiet and overlooking the beach. I had chorizo (my fave!), steak and cheese tacos. So simple and so tasty. And of course, beer. I had one Coronita, an 8 oz Corona.

Then it hit me, holy fuck! I'm exhausted. Somehow I ambled back to our room and fell asleep in SexyBeast's arms.

Acapulco Photos

I have decided to tell my vacation story in parts and photos separate. Enjoy!

Shalom Suckers!

And I mean that sentiment in the nicest possible way : ) SexyBeast and I are off to Acapulco, MX for a week. So no new posts until I come back refreshed, hungover and most likely sunburned.

Be good, be well, everyone!