One year is complete now!

Well, one year ago, I was sitting in a hotel room in Winfield with our dogs, six suitcases, two laptop cases, two carry on bags and Ross. Shelby was wearing his little plaid sweater because he was SO cold. Now, we are sitting in the tropics...freezing our butts off..It's only 20C and has been raining for over a week now. It is damp and cold at night and we are wearing PANTS...yes, pants and I have a hoodie on!

It is crazy how fast the year has gone.

What have I learned in the past year?

1. Patience
2. Rice is good
3. Puppies will eat anything
4. Dominican drivers are the worst drivers on the face of the earth (yes, worse than Calgary drivers!) There are no real rules of the road here...biggest tires win...ok, that's kinda like Alberta! LOL
5. You can make alot of things with 200 lbs of bananas.
6. Ross is grouchy when he wakes up from a nap
7. Beer is best frosty cold
8. Frogs can lay thousands of eggs in a freshly cleaned pool through the course of a night
9. Puppies will eat anything
10. Laughter is completely necessary
11. Hurricanes are not fun
12. Grass grows quickest when the lawnmower is out of gas
13. Gringos throw some mighty fine potluck dinners
14. Don't light fires when the grass is brown and dry and it's windy
15. Ross can change a lightbulb on a 20' ceiling without a ladder or chair..can you say broom handle, tongs, and rubber gloves?
16. Driving a quad in the rain isn't that bad
17. Puppies will eat anything
18. Four dogs and one cat poop lots

So, you might have noticed I said "four" dogs. Yes, in a blind moment of stupidity, we got another puppy. "Boss" is the newest member of our family. He is a Belgium shepard and is now seven weeks old. Boss is a "man" dog. He is showing very strong personality traits and is going to get some obdience training/guard dog training when he gets older. Since we got him he has almost doubled in size. He loves to play tug-o-war with Jack. He torments the cat endlessly but I think the cat secretly loves it.

The dogs are getting along really well and have accepted Boss into the pack. Here is a favorite pass time:

We are into the "rainy season". In the last week or so we have had at least 12 inches of rain. Ross is waiting for someone to come and fix the leak in our pool so he had drained about half the water out of the pool. He is going to have to re-drain the pool as it is almost full again.

So, what will Year 2 bring? Probably lots of the craziness that Year 1 brought except, we are a little wiser (notice I didn't say older??).

To all our friends in the motherland, ENJOY THE WINTER!!! Keep warm, happy, and healthy!

Another month in Paradise

We are well into month #11!

When we moved to the DR, we thought there would be lots of time for fun, sun and cervesa...were we wrong!

I have a part-time job now. I'm working as a breakfast cook at the Jolly Roger. Great hours, great employers and I am having lots of fun with it. I have never had a job quite like this before and it sure beats sitting at a desk for nine hours a day!

We are busy looking after our two neighbour's yards and pools as well as our own yard and pool. Did you know that frogs can lay thousands of eggs in a very short period of time and the little suckers hatch really quickly? Now, the cat seems to take care of quite a few frogs (we hear them screaming when she kills them - sounds like a small child crying) but clearly the cat isn't doing her job well enough!

I am becoming more and more "Dominicanized" as time passes. My primary mode of transportation now is our quad. I'm ripping around everywhere on it. I can drive for about two weeks back and forth to work on about $10 worth the gas. Can't complain about that. Now, the "winter" rains haven't started yet but I am sure I can figure out how to hold an umbrella when I drive it...I will truly look "Dominican" if I can manage to do that. Either that or I will just wear a black garbage back with holes cut for my head and arms...lol Ross put a little red basket on the front so I can stop on my way home everyday with the few groceries I pick up. I even pick up one of the neighbours and give her a ride into work one day a week as we are going to the same place.

Ross is spending some time at the golf course every week or two. He complains about having to use my golf clubs because his are still in Canada. Now seriously, do we think that is just an excuse for his bad games? LOL In any event, for less than $20, he can golf and have a couple of beer, have a caddy and cart. How can you complain about that?

Devil Dog: Ok, devil dog is STILL chewing. Actually, I have decided that it is separation anxioty. He only seems to eat things when we aren't home. I no longer have any bed linens with out small holes eaten in them. So, if anyone wants to bring us a house warming gift when they visit...we have queen size beds...

The wicker couch must be particularly tasty...

Last night the cat's plastic dish went missing. Not sure were it ended up but no great loss, there wasn't much left of it anyway. I'll probably find little red plastic pieces deposited around the yard when I next do poop duty! That's how we found Ross's brand new white leather golf glove...but we won't talk about that anymore.

And...sigh....the dog pulled the six month old laptop onto the concrete/tile floor...smashed the hard drive. Ok, laptop is working with a new hard drive but I don't think the keyboard will ever be quite the same. Yes, the dog is still alive.....for now.

My middle daughter, Kaylen has been working very, very hard the last year on an excersize and diet plan. She's lost an incredible amount of weight and inches and has recently competed in a fitness competition. She looked wonderful and if you want to see pictures, check out my facebook! She is an inspiration as now my other two daughters (Krista and Hailey) are using the same personal trainer that Kaylen used. I think it would be very cool if all three of them were in the same competition next year in May!

Did you know that Ross is a retired Chippendale dancer? LOL Actually, that was his Hallowe'en costume this year. He sure charmed the ladies...great time was had by all at the Hallowe'en party.

On another note: CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ARE NOW IN THE STORES HERE. I thought it was just North America that was retarded but clearly the shopping bug is here too. Mind you, the prices for mini lights are REDICULOUS...Over $20 for a small string of lights...NOT!! There is even one hotel downtown that has had their Christmas tree up for almost a month already.

So as our first year winds down, we are looking back and thinking...'what a great move!'

If you are going to be down our way this winter, please let us know so we can show you our little piece of paradise and have a cervesa or three!

Cheers!