Just another day in Paradise! Today it’s a bit cooler here with some clouds and very breezy. When I looked at the temperature at home it was 21 degrees (F). Hard to imagine at the moment!

Yesterday several of the wives took a walk on the beach to the little village of Puerto Morelos. It was a good workout as it was about 1.5 miles at a pretty brisk pace.  These photos were taken there.

It was very hot and the sun was very strong, so we opted to take a taxi back to our hotel instead of walking back. I had to take a dip in the pool to cool off when we got back and it felt marvelous.

Rick is done with working now, so the rest of our time here is pure vacation. We are signed up for a horseback ride today and will be leaving soon. I’ll let you know how that goes since neither of us has been on a horse in many years!

I have to include these little guys in my post today. Each night we find a different figurine left on our turned-down bed. Soon I think we will have a whole mariachi band. Aren’t they cute?

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Walking out of the Cancun airport the warm sultry air hit me in the face like a warm wet washcloth. ahhhh... it felt good. It was hard to remember that only hours ago we were driving through a snowstorm to the airport over unplowed and snowy roads. The hour-and-a-half wait sitting on the tarmac at Newark airpot waiting to be de-iced (or de-NJ-ized as I like to refer to it) was only a dim memory. To think that only 3.5 hours by air separate that life and this, yet I feel a world away.

This morning finds me sitting on my balcony penning these words (Rick has the computer during the day in meetings). I know you will all feel very sorry for me as the temperature is 70 degrees F or so. The ocean breeze lifts my hair and blows it about my face. The palm tree fronds bend to and fro.  The waves gently roll in and crash softly on the white sandy beach within sight of my room. Sheer heaven.

view from our balcony

Our hotel is one of those “all-inclusive” compounds. A city unto itself, there are seven different restaurants to choose from and (only) ten bars. Each wing of rooms seems to have its own pool. Our room looks out over our “private” beach and pool. We’ve been allotted a junior suite in the VIP wing (for what reason we are not quite certain of). The only difference in our room and everyone else’s must be the jacuzzi tub on our balcony and the seating area with a couch.

I do love the mountains, woods, snow and wildlife of New Jersey, but I think I could just as easily become an Island Girl. More to to come.

*Jimmy Buffet ...
The weather is here I wish you were beautiful
The skies are too clear life’s so easy today
The beer is too cold, the daiquiri’s too fruitiful
No place like home when you’re this far away
I don’t care what they say (I don’t care)

We are due to fly out to Mexico tomorrow. It figures. Weather predictions are not good at all—“significant” snow is said to be on the way for tonight and tomorrow. At its best, Newark Airport is always a mess. We can only hope the weather forecasters are still not able to get it right. We could be sitting in the airport all day waiting for our flight to leave. I don’t like flying that much anyway, so I don’t need the added stress.

But, once on our way we will be staying here. It looks lovely! The trip is part business (for Rick) and part pleasure. I know, I know. It looks like a tough place to conduct business, doesn’t it? Do you blame me for tagging along on a business trip? I will try to post a few times from our new digs but Rick will have the computer with him in meetings during the day so maybe I can sneak a few things & photos in here and there. I plan to do a lot of beach walking and shell seeking. We’ll have a few days to ourselves and we’re not sure yet what is possible to explore. We are signed up for a horseback ride through the jungle and on the beach, so that will be fun. I would love to visit a Mayan ruin that we didn’t see last year, Cobá, but unless the hotel offers a tour there we won’t be going since we are not renting a car this time. We’ll just go with the ebb and flow of the Caribbean lifestyle and let things happen as they may.

Once we get out of New Jersey, that is!

It will be Bella’s first time in the kennel and I hope she does well. This time of year the kennel is not busy so they’ve assured me she will get lots of special attention. My baby girl. I will miss her.

Until I post again, stay cozy and by all means keep your feet warm!

Sunday morning we woke up to more new snow. The predicted “coating to a an inch” turned into three inches. It coated the trees and branches perfectly with its fluffy whiteness. Such a pretty snow!

Anyone up for an al fresco meal by the pool?

Okay, so maybe we didn’t have our usual poolside Sunday lunch. We took the dogs for a walk since it’s really been too cold to take them this past week. Bella preferred the snow to the road.

When we got back she was still a bundle of energy, so I took them in the back yard for a proper snow romp.

Snow really sticks to soft, downy puppy coats!

Heck, this kind of snow sticks to most anything!

And now for a few more serious shots.

Here is Alex, deep in thought.

And Hailey with snow nose.

And Bella.

Who you can’t expect to be serious for very long.

But I need to buckle down and get serious. I have five interview questions from Reya to answer which I have been giving much thought to over the past few days. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little taste of winter!

Baby, it’s cold outside! Every day we add a new icicle, and every day the older icicles get longer and longer.

Yep, winter is here. The snow that I was skeptically optimistic about amounted to less than one inch. Not even enough to be cost efficient to run Johnny. Now it will probably just turn into ice with the deep freeze weather pattern we are in for the next three or four days. Just look at our weather station statistics upon my getting up this morning:

Less than 1 degree. The dogs want to go in and out like they normally do, but I won’t let them. It’s just too darn cold. Opening and closing the door only lets cold air in and all that lovely warmth emanating from the wood stove is lost. (Our new stove works great by the way.)

Even the snow shovel is wearing a sheath of ice complete with its very own set of icicles.

In times like this, comfort food is called for. How about some [what we call around our house], pork chops & beans?

I’m not sure where the recipe started; either with my Mother or my Grandmother. But since I can’t ask either one of them I am going to assume my Grandmother started it. The recipe is simple. Take bone-in pork chops, rub them with salt, pepper and a little rubbed sage. Pan fry them to brown them. Open a can of your favorite baked beans, spread them in a baking dish and put the pork chops on top of the beans. Push the chops down into the beans so that they are mostly submerged. Bake at 375 F until done, but be careful not to overcook the chops. Serve with steamed/boiled potatoes.

And eggplant parmesan. Recipe here.

Here’s hoping you stay warm wherever you are today!