dr fogg says toby's ok

g called the vet's office at noon, and toby's bloodwork is normal. most likely hypoglycemia or an intestinal track problem. yea. thank goodness.

now we can be even more decadent and read books in the lounge chairs, order burgers and fries and vanilla ice cream and cokes. tomorrow's the flight back.

poor toby

hayley called yesterday to tell us that toby had a seizure. poor guy stopped breathing for about 30 seconds i guess, and she thought he'd died. he lost consciousness for 10 minutes after that.

she took him to the vet, and there should be some blood test results in later today. don't know if it's epilepsy or if he ate something moldy, or what. too bad the poor boy had to have it happen when we were gone. thank heavens cindy didn't have to deal with it though. she would have felt so bad. hayley's used to animal problems. poor poor tobes. she says he's fine today though.

yesterday was gorgeous here, very calm sea. later in the day though, the tide fooled us. we went out for a last snorkeling trip and the current was very strong, pulling us out to sea. i was concerned about mck's swimming strength, and she was pooped when we finally made it back to the pier. worrisome. i still remember feeling exhausted up in the canadian wilderness, swimming against a current from a portage area.

off for some tennis on the astro turf! we've been doing tennis at home on the driveway, and it's so much more strenuous here. no dogs to get the balls!

snorkeling & stuff

mckenzie got brave, donned the wetsuit, and snorkeled off shore this morning. even i felt a little odd going so far out. saw some amazing schools of fish hovering together over a sunken piece of ship (to be romantic about it). my flippers gave me a bruise though, they were so small. the mayans can´t believe a woman can have size 42 feet I guess. that´s only a women´s 10 by the way. what do really big women do? it doesn´t go over 11 does it?

waiting for the nachos to settle before going back in. enjoying the sequel to the friday night knitting club book, Knit Two. odd going from the sand to the concrete jungle of NYC. but comforting too. very relaxing here!!!!!

already, at what, 1 pm, we´re planning dinner. a choice of two restaurants: the main one on the beach, or the italian job. had spaghetti bolognese last night at the indoor italian place and it was incredibly good. just that our next door neighbors at the hotel sat beside us and yakked up a storm. she´s a new yorker from santa fe, who´s husband has a saab dealership, with a daughter who´s 13 and taking college calculus. the husband´s back in santa fe, lucky soul, and she´s desperate for conversation. her daughter kept trying to give her the zip your lips sign, but she was totally oblivious. it´s hard to dip into the chocolate fondue and have somebody continually yakking at your back. then it turned out our tv was on way too loud for them.... kinda wish they´d move! we´re hoping to find out where they´re going to eat tonight, then go to the other place.

one more day of paradise! I guess Harold (the puppy) was not happy with the house sitter. It took him two days to warm up to her. Poodles!

hola!

hola from cozumel! let's see if the coffee's kicked in yet. what do i expect? it's decaf.

had a bit too much chardonnay last night.

working on a spanish keyboard, so no capitals today. anyway, one doesn't need them here, nor clothes either, just a bathing suit and cover up and something dry for later. euphoria has settled into simply a tipsy joy... i do love this place. the birds, the fish. saw a fish as long as my arm this morning, must have been a bottom feeder, right by the shore. then a blue crab scuttled around. some long legged white birds totter and dash by the water's edge while a few drowsy suited up people make their way to the waiting dive boat, gas scenting the air with vacation memories from our kansas city red and white boat. but dorothy, this is not kansas...or the ozarks.

enough of the poetry... the kids are here and will be anxious for breakfast soon.

hayley and andy will never make good roommates. and we'll leave it at that!

bought some crayons and markers, so will color a bit, lacking the paints and canvas. i am on that kick, just as mom has redone her apple tree at least five times. so lucky she started with acrylics, because watercolors would have been impossible to change.

off to eat, take the big kids to the airport, then back for a few more days with g and mckenzie. no exciting news other than that the cheese and plain muffins are great here. enjoying my books, and it's nice to just walk the beach, swim with the fish, and have meals together. mckenzie has discovered she likes hamburgers!

ps. play tennis here and you are absolutely soaked with sweat. your head feels so hot you can't wait to dive in the waves. i hear we got a foot of snow at home.

Grandma Moses & Dog Togs

It's 2:30 pm.  G's alarm clock always goes off at this time.  He can't fix it or change it, so no matter what I'm doing, it's like the town siren in Lake Forest at noon.  Everybody knows when it's 2:30 around here.

Just back from a lovely walk on a brisk, cold sunny day, with the doggies.  They thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I.  

Here's the big news--not that we pulled out of the stock market last week.  No, that's old news by now.  Not that G had a face off with the former & present CEO's on Wednesday.  That too, we're over.  He's still at Spartan, so time to move on.  No, the big news is that Mom has discovered her artistic bent.  Ever since she started in the class at the Evergreen Art Center with me, she's been sketching and painting like Grandma Moses (who did over a 1600 paintings beginning at the age of 76).  Just as Anna Mary Robertson Moses was a primitive painter, May Ann Johnson has a primitive Van Gogh style.  Short, bold brushstrokes, and flat, storytelling scenes.  I love it!  She's the one who always said she wasn't talented.  Gave all the credit to Dad.  But she's really going at it, and yesterday went home after our painting class, started over on her house picture, and drew and painted until she went to bed.

I'm really enjoying acrylics myself.  Unlike watercolor, where one misstep either has to be converted into something else, soaked up, or scrubbed, an acrylic can be painted over...and over and over.  I found an old McCall's pattern for "Dog Togs" online, and took off to paint a large rendition of a poodle & scottie in coats.  At first it was repulsive in it's colors, but after working till dinner yesterday, I put washes on it (thin color) and toned it down to something I really like.  Just have to add a poofy poodle tail (in purple), and a table leg now to finish it off.

So, in closing, here's a toast to Mom!  Maybe she'll have her first one man show when she's 90.  Ol' Grandma Moses lived to 101, and even wrote an autobiography, so you never know where this will lead!  Inspiration for us all.

Eloise & the Bad Mouse at Midnight

From The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter:

THE doll's house stood at the other side of the fireplace....  TOM THUMB and Hunca Munca went up-stairs and peeped into the dining- room. Then they squeaked with joy! 

Such a lovely dinner was laid out upon the table! There were tin spoons, and lead knives and forks, and two dolly-chairs --all SO convenient....

After a nice plaster dinner and a bit of pilfering, Tom Thumb traveled on to my bedroom.  SPLASH, TRINKLE, LEAP!  He took a swim in the dog bowl then scaled the bedroom curtains.  Eloise came positively unglued when he skittered in back of her Moscow edition fur.  I opened the window wide, but the minute the light went off, I heard a plop.  Tom had nosedived from window ledge to carpet!  

Smudgy refused to come to the rescue.  Haughtily, she pouted under the bed.  

"Catch him yourself,"  she implied with typical Siamese attitude.

I shook out the shoes on the closet floor.  Then he made a dash for the door.  Long story short, Tom took off on his little tractor and roared down the hallway with two cats on his tail.  I slammed the door and stuffed towels under it. 

Hayley woke up this morning to report that Eddie was on the trail.  Lordy, if that Tom comes back tonight, Eloise will lose her head completely!  Get out the Gorilla Glue.  TOUT DE SUITE!