We were robbed...

Yep...you never think it's going to happen to you. Then, BAM! Reality slaps you in the face and you become yet another victim.

Since I live with two of my sons, there's usually someone at the house at almost all times. Not this last Saturday. They both had to work and I decided to go to the Outlet Mall. The $14.95 sandals I bought actually ended up costing around $5,000. I would have taken a picture of my new sandals, but the assholes took both my cameras in their brief raid through the house. I was gone no more than an hour, which makes us think that they were staking the place out...waiting for a time when all three of us were gone. When I returned, I immediately saw that all the doors were open in the house, the blinds on my bedroom window were messed up and the decorative glass ornament I had hanging on the latch was in pieces on the floor. After a quick run-through, I discovered they took my new Macbook Pro (which I had gotten on September 11th), my old laptop, my two cameras, both of my son's laptops, a Wii, Playstation 3, some games, and an old cell phone. I called the police and they dusted for fingerprints, but I don't foresee getting anything back. I also filed a claim with my insurance company, so I hope that works out.

So, what have I learned from this experience?

1) Fingerprinting dust is EXTREMELY messy and hard to clean up because once you get it wet, it turns into a liquid black mess.

2) You know how on CSI, the cops run back to the lab to run the fingerprints through the system to find the bad guy? Not so. They file the fingerprints and wait until someone is arrested, then check to see if their fingerprints match the ones they took at our house.

3) Keep your receipts for years for everything you buy, because you never know what can happen. I had them for my stuff, but my sons didn't keep theirs. Hopefully, insurance will accept credit card records.

4) Make notes of serial numbers as soon as you buy something.

5) I need to come up with a better job of organizing rather than just throwing things on top of a growing pile of records. (But, at least after some rifling around, I found everything I needed.)

This is the first time I've been robbed...and hopefully the last. It's a very violated feeling...and a helpless one. The thought of someone going through my stuff pisses me off. My son put it on his Facebook and got some responses from friends who have had it happen to them, too. The shame of it is that it changes the way you feel about your home. I've always been the kind of person to keep blinds open (not at night, of course) because I love the sunlight coming in. Now I keep them partially closed so that no one can see inside. And see how my back door has those little windows but no curtain?

My son hammered in two nails in the woodwork above the door and now we hang a towel over it in the evenings. It sucks.

The only good thing is that they did not take my external hard drive which was sitting right next to my laptop. About a month ago, I transferred ALL my photos to this drive so that I wouldn't lose any of my pictures if my computer crashed. Yay!

So, my son and I were talking about it later that night and he said, "Mom, I think we should get a gun." He was 'halfway' kidding. God, I don't even want to think about that.

Christmas in Mexico...

I was asked today how Mexico decorates for Christmas. That was a tough one to answer. It's kind of different. And I'm sure it varies throughout the different areas of Mexico. I've only been in Mexico twice over Christmas. The first time was on Isla Mujeres in 2007 and the second was in Playa del Carmen and various places I bused through during my trip in 2009.

These are photos from my 2007 trip on Isla. Isla has its own Christmas flavor regarding its decorations...kind of a "kitschy" look, for lack of a better term. They all do their own thing so it's kind of a mish-mash of various decorations.

Pooh.

Combining Santa Claus and Jesus..

This is a private home on Medina around the area of Justicia Social. I love the wooden doors.

Snowman on the beach...

Santa in a window.

A nativity display at the Posada del Mar...

Nativity scene in the church on the zocalo...

Putting away the decorations afterward at Justicia Social from my view at the Bahia Chac Chi...

The swordfish at Picus...

Here's one from Playa del Carmen...

And another. Playa is too glitzy and glamorous for me. I don't like all the high-priced shops you can find in the outlet malls NOB.

This was a shot I took in Coba from the bus on my way to Valladolid. I loved the pretend snow on the balcony rails...especially when it was about 90 degrees outside...haha!

So, in my search for Christmas photos, I came across this one of Cochinita Pibil that I got in Valladolid. MMMmmmm...I could go for that about now. Let's see...how many times have I ordered that in a restaurant around here? Oh, yeah...that would be zero. Kind of like Huevos Motulenos. If you want those kind of dishes, you're going to have to make them yourself...which I have.

Then I found this one. I'm thinking this little lady would make a nice match for the little guy who lives behind my house. Ya' think? Gringo and Gringa...has a nice ring to it, right? Gringo could get back to his roots in Mexico. I bet he would be a happy little guy.

Back to the Christmas decorations in Mexico. This is back on Isla in 2007 on the zocalo. Pretty plain Jane stuff back then.

They really jazzed it up in 2009. I think they had to come up with a blue theme to match the color of the pillars they painted in front of the Palacio.

But my favorite picture is the one I took in 2007, only because of the incredible reflections I got in the windows which I didn't even notice until I looked at the photo afterwards. Kind of amazing that you can see a perfect palm tree, La Luna, and the Virgin Mary on top of the church.

Won't be going to Mexico this Christmas, but I'll be dreaming about it.

On a final note, I saw a link to a little video on the danger of vacationing in Mexico today which had me laughing out loud. Check it out here.

A Gringo Thanksgiving...

Just a relaxed Thanksgiving dinner at the house this year. This was one of our guests. You remember Nutter, right? She lives with Jonathan now, but he brought her by to visit. It's like she's been living here all along and felt right at home. I miss having her around.

But our happiest guest by far was this little guy. We felt sorry for Gringo. Mr. Asshole wasn't home, of course (not that it would matter anyway because he never pays any attention to him), and it got really cold here yesterday afternoon, so we brought him on over. Doesn't he look happy?

Gringo bonding with Jared...

...and Jeffrey...

Yep, he was a happy little camper yesterday just part of the crew. (I don't have a dining room table in this house because there's no room, so we brought in the table from the patio. Haha...kind of small but it worked.) The turkey was great, the company was great...it was a good day.

And here's me doing the dishes.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Taking a break...

Just a note to my readers that I will be taking a sabbatical from my blog for awhile. Just don't have much to report and need to do some rethinking to come up with new ideas while I sort some things out. I will try to keep in touch with my favorite bloggers out there. Until then, I will keep Mexico in my heart. Keep those doorways open and take care...

IslaDeb

Just some random thoughts...

I haven't posted for awhile and I've gotten a few e-mails from readers wanting to know if I'm still alive. I very much appreciate that. I've been going through a personal issue which I'm not going to post about, but will admit that it has taken some of the wind out of my...

Some time on Isla would probably cure some of those anxieties.

Anyway, I'll do kind of miscellaneous post to let you know that I am still around. I'll start out with the St. Louis Bread Company. I was born and raised in St. Louis and when they started the St. Louis Bread Company, it was a HUGE success.

In fact, it became such a huge success, that they branched off into other parts of the country, but changed the name to...

It's still called the St. Louis Bread Company in St. Louis, but called Panera Bread in all other locations. It's a wonderful restaurant full of freshly baked breads and pastries...as well as offering a great lunch of fresh salads, soups and sandwiches. My brother called and told me that they had just opened a new one in north San Antonio, so I was SOOOOO excited to try it out. It was kind of like going home again. Here are their pastries...


And what I had for lunch...French onion soup and an Asiago roast beef sandwich...

On a totally different note, it was Homecoming weekend at Texas State, so I went to take some pictures.

Here's our new professor in electrical engineering. When his daughter greeted me, she bowed. How sweet! They're from Korea.

Here's me and Dr. You...he's also from Korea.

And Dr. Kim...also from Korea...

A couple of co-workers...

Here's our departmental student worker, Sara. I LOVE this picture! This is SOOO Sara. She's a hoot...and sends me text messages at all hours of the night letting me know she's gotten a good grade on a test. Haha!

Walking refrigerators...

Ass-taking pictures...

Washer tournaments...

And boots. I remember last year, I posted pictures of girls wearing cowboy boots with their shorts. It seemed like that number doubled this year. What's up with that???? I don't get it...but, then again, I'm not a native Texan...




This one also had heart-shaped white sunglasses on. Quite a fashion statement.

So, I went off on my own to take some random pictures, and found this opportunity...

Interesting, right??

Hmmm...guy or girl? Looks more like a guy to me. What do you think? Either way, it's weird!

Walking back to the car, we passed by lots of band members. I think these guys must be told that if they see someone taking their picture, they should smile. Last year, I passed by a group of cheerleaders who looked pretty somber. When they saw I was taking their picture, they suddenly cheered up. Just like this gal...

Adios, Texas State Homecoming.

On a final note, you all remember Gringo and his prison behind our back yard...

Well, now the next door neighbors must have gotten a dog because now this sweet thing is craving attention from us as well. We've never seen a dog in this yard, so it's been a surprise. She's a total sweetheart...jumps up on the fence and nibbles your arm and is so gentle. I have yet to see the neighbors pay any attention to her. Geez, what is with these people????