A Very Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and my husband and I celebrated at Topobolompa, Rich Bayless's gourment Mexican Restuarant. Bayless is the author of Mexico, One Plate at a Time and Everyday Mexican, as well as several other books. He also has a TV show on PBS. We have both books and were looking forward to visiting this restaurant. We were not disappointed. The food was superb, the decor was beautiful and the service was exceptional. We ordered the chef's tasting menu with the "perfectly matched " wines.

One of the highlights of this restaurant was the art collection. The paintings and etchings are all by Mexican artists, most were from Oaxoca. I asked a question about one of the art works, they gave be a book to read about the collection. We got to meet Rich Bayless, and he gave me a copy of the menu, complete with birthday wishes. So, this was a birthday celebration that exceeded all of our expectations.

It's getting colder and colder here

To warm up your day, I have included some more pictures from the beach at Puerto Vallarta.

Our weather has taken a turn for the colder. We are heading for some mighty frosty days ahead. The temp is in the 20's today, but is heading lower in the days ahead. We are experiencing some flurries now, adding to the dusting already on the ground. So what was more appropriate than to go to a concert yesterday which featured Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" ? The piece was part of a CSO series entitled "Beyond the Score," in which the background of the piece is explored, exerpts played and commentary by Gerald McBurney and an actor. A huge screen is located behind the orchestra which features film clips and other visual artifacts. This makes for a very interesting afternoon. In the second part of the concert the piece is played completely. The conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen was very energtic, though his suit jacket appeared to be little tight. This was the first time I had heard the piece in its entirety. I was surprised that it didn't seem as cutting edge as I expected. It has a lot of folk song material in it, though most of the songs were Lithuanian, not Russian. It was explained in the commentary that the Lithuanians were the last people of the area to become Christian, so the archeologist who was working with Stravinsky, believed that their folksongs were more closly related to the preChristian pagan culture than those of the Russians. Paganism was what they were looking for in this piece. The orchestra was huge, and the sound was huge. All in all it was a very interesting afternoon.

Two other comments, we saw someone busted by the security for taping the program. They took his cassette away and let him go. I saw Stravinsky conduct in the 1960's when he came to Chicago to the Ravinia Festival--don't ask me what was played at the concert.

PV Revisited

Now I'm under the effects of a cold. So, a few pictures of a nice warm town may help me and you feel better.

Puerta Vallarta has a lot of public art located along the beach. It is quite impressive for a small city. I don't know of too many US cities of this size that have such asn extensive collection.

The v.f.h. continues........

Now I have a miserable cold, and what looks like the beginning of a sinus infection. I just don't feel good. My mother is out of the hospital and has moved to a nursing home for rehab. She is good mentally, but looks like heck. She has a lot of cold sores, but is on medication. She will do everything she can to get out of there as soon as they will allow her to go.
I have a meeting for work this afternoon, and then a big meeting for the teachers, which makes a long day for me.
On the very bright side, I have about 11 pounds to go to meet my goal for weight watchers. I haven't been following the program for the past week. Today I will get back to tracking everything. I wish I felt like exercising. All I want to do is sleep.

The Vacation from Hell

The trip to Mexico wasn't a sucess. It all started when I checked the travel sites and saw negative comments about the hotel. I just filed those away. Then I was hit with a $50 charge because my bag was overweight. Now the plane wasn't full, so they usually let it go. Not this time. Although the hotel was lovely, the decor was a little dated, but that's not a major problem. My husband got sick on Sunday with a high temp and diaherria. Then on Monday, we got a call from the nurse at my Mom's apartment that they were taking her to the emergency room. She was really seriously sick. By the next day, she was doing better, and the nurse in the ICU told us that we didn't have to rush back that day.
My husband , on the recommendation of another guest, got some medication from the concierge, which was quite effective. We made our arrangements to return to the USA on Wednesday. That morning, I didn't feel too good, but since I didn't know when I would see a meal, I decided to eat breakfast. By the time we got to the airport, I was nauseated, and spent several hours throwing up in the airport washroom. I had the chills and had to put on my winter jacket and sweater. Fortunately, the trip home was uneventful, and we arrived home safely. My mother is doing much better, but is still in the hospital. Neither of us feel great. I was so disgusted with the hotel, that I posted my story on 3 travel web sites. I have informed our travel agent. A woman read my comments and decided to cancel her Barcelo reservations and book another hotel. It really annoyed me that the hotel was so secretive and continued to have new guests check in. Personally, including ourselves, we knew of 6 people who were sick. It was rumored that there were at least 50. They didn't seem to be too concerned, and certainly didn't follow up with the people who were sick.
The real tragedy of this was that the hotel was on a beautiful site, the food was good, the service was good and Puerto Vallarta is an interesting town. I will put pictures on the blog in the next few days so you can see how nice it was.

The Barcelo La Jolla Mismoloya in Puerto Vallarta.

Tomorrow is the day,

6:30 am is the time that we will be on our way to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. We are about as ready as we can be--except for packing and other little things. Mentally, we are ready.
I am glad that Wednesday is over. It was a very busy day, a meeting in the morning, a class in the afternoon and another meeting in the early meeting. The two classes I participated in at Oakton were very worthwhile. One was learning how to use a grade book program, the other was instruction in how to put a syllabus on the web. Of course, you have to have a web page in order to do this, so that is another project. Another detail, the syllabus has to be done. Oh well. Anothter thing to do when we get back.
So, off for a week of sun and eating new foods, and seeing new places.

Winter is back

Today is my Weight Watchers meeting, so of course, I am wearing the same clothing that I wear to every meeting. It was just right in September, a light work-out shirt and nylon workout pants. Now that it is January, it is a little thin. Needless to say, I was chilly this morning. Our mild, southern temperatures have departed, and it is now in the 30's. Not bad for January, but compared to the 50's we've been enjoying, it is quite nippy.
Well, I have survived the dreaded "holiday" period--which for those of us who are trying to lose weight, runs from Halloween to New Year's. I am down 30 pounds. I lost 1.6 pounds last week, so the cardio and strength training are paying off.
My next challenge is a week in a great restaurant town, Puerta Vallarta!

Movies and more movies

There has been a movie bonanza around here during the past two weeks. We have watched "A Prairie Home Companion," "Little Miss Sunshine," "United 93," " An Inconvenient Truth" and "Adaptation." We saw "Freedom Writers" at the theater. I enjoyed all of them, but "Adaptation was my least favorite. I read the book it was based on, The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean, which I enjoyed. Parts of the book were a little tedious, but the book was interesting. The movie was an interesting adaptation of the book, which touched on the subject, but took off in other directions.
I have always liked "Nashville," which was also directed by Altman. "A Prairie Home Companion," had a lot of similarities, a music theme and a lot of well known actors in the cast. I liked it almost as much as "Nashville." It is interesting that it was Altman's last film, as it has a strong death theme.
"United 93" was pretty good, and very gripping. See it if you haven't yet. "Little Miss Sunshine" was entertaining as was Freedom Writers. My favorite was Al Gore's movie, An Inconventient Truth. It was well researched and presented , and had lots of things to think about.
I will probably go through a period of movie drought, as I experienced so many in the past few weeks. I have a very busy week ahead of me, two days of work related meetings and classes, as well as other responsibilities.

I want to wish everybody a happy and healthy new year. May all of you in the blogosphere and elsewhere continue to find happiness and sucess.

Happy New Year everybody!

My new year started at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Starting out the year volunteering isn't a bad way to start out the year. They were desperate for volunteers so I decided to help out. Helping out with traffic in the building wasn't what I usually do, so I didn't feel as useful as I do when I work in school programs. I am going again on Thursday and will be doing children's activities which is more to my liking.
When I got home, I ate my lucky new year's foods, herring and hopping john, a dish made with black eyed peas. No, the peas and herring are't mixed together. The one new years day that I forgot to eat the herring led to a serious illness and a long recovery. I will not forget my good luck foods ever again. One of my friends always eats squash soup on new years day.
Last night we watched Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvienent Truth." It was excellent and I highly recommend it to everybody. We have also watched "United 93" and "Little Miss Sunshine" in the past few days. When my son is home, the movie traffic increases. All the films were very enjoyable and recommended.
On the very positive side, I lost the weight I had gained in the past two weeks. The candy is almost gone, actually given away, not eaten. So, I am back on track with weight watchers. My goal is getting closer and more achievable. I may make it by the time summer comes around.