The Oscars

I usually dont watch the Oscars on account of it being filled with pompous actors who love telling me who to vote for and who not to vote for.
This year I had to watch and I blame "Slumdog Millionaire"for it.
The movie was good,very realistic and made me grateful for my very sheltered upbringing!Hubby liked it so much he went back to watch the movies a few more times.
But anyway,back to the Oscars.I was very happy for cast and crew and all that they won.
An Indian movie won for best short documentary too.
So as my husband says"You are finally in fashion"!!!
The only moment I wished I was not watching was when Sean Penn started telling people his political opinions when he won.Which I think was to be expected.
Dont mix entertainment with politics,thats one of the reason most people dont watch stuff like the Oscars etc.Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican you dont want anyones political opinions shoved down your throat.

A dogs lunch

According to my mother,this is the face of evil.
She had bought some shellfish from a Farmers market.The Farmers Market is about 45 minutes away and so we hardly go there and when we do,we buy stuff that we normally dont buy.The shellfish was expensive so she just got three.Its the kind that is filled with meat.
She boiled it as soon as we got home and decided to add it to a gravy(Indian style)on Tuesday.
We are banned from cooking anything "fishy" inside the house so she cooks fishy stuff on the grill' s burner.
To show you the makeshift kitchen,I include this picture.
The key point I want to make is the dog sleeping on the chair which to an innocent eye would think,he is enjoying the company and the sun.But the experienced eye would note that the dog is paying close attention to whats being cooked.


Well,she came in to get some salt and was telling me how much meat was on the shell.We walked out together so she could show me and voila!it had vanished.there was just shell without any meat.
The dog had climbed on a chair to get to the table(the chair was really close to the table)and had eaten every last bit of it!
I was laughing so hard,I could have died.Mom was so pissed at the dog,she would not even look at at him!

New Orleans

We went to New Orleans to get on the cruise ship and I had to say how different it is from how the media projects it.
I somehow imagined gangs hanging around street corners waiting to mug people!
We went around the town to see the aftermath of Katrina.Our driver was a man in his 50' s retired from the AirForce and someone who called it as he saw it.
He did not blame FEMA and George Bush and we learnt some inside stories on the crooked mayor!
He told us some horror stories about the cops there and how they reacted at that time and thankfully he mentioned it on the way to the airport as it made my husband really mad.
My opinion is that its a nice town,a little expensive but filled with friendly people.
We had a whole day to spend there and my father-in-law gets a case of the wanderlust when he does not have anything to do so my mother-in-law arranged some swamp tours to keep us all busy.
It was pretty neat.Saw a lot of alligators hanging around the swamp like roaches and turtles everywhere.
Here are some pictures

Back with a tan

Well.....people with my coloring dont need a tan !

I had a great time on vacation.I usually dont like going on a Carnival cruise because it has too many teenagers and kids but suprisingly this time there were more older people on board.It may be the timing...kids are back in school,families with children would rather spend that money on other stuff than a cruise etc

Got hit with two back to back migraine attacks which I was not expecting!So I was not my usual chirpy self.I usually organise everyone into activities and things to do.
It was cool in Mexico about 68 degrees.I have been there when its blazing hot so I wont complain.hence no bikini pictures of me either.

I had actually taken my running shoes and ended up running 9 miles facing the endless span of water.The only problem was that the treadmill was below glass windows and the temps there were a 100 degrees !The rest of the gym was airconditioned but not the treadmill part!
I managed to gain 2 lbs on top of the 4lbs that I gained from a cruise in November which added to the 12 lbs that I was trying to lose so thats a total of 18 lbs !
Cant diet as I have a half marathon coming up but all that extra running should help!

My most favorite part was going to High Tea with the ladies.We had tea with pastries and little sandwiches while a lady played the piano.It was relaxing and I got to spend time with hubbys grandma,my mom and my mother-in-law.

I am not a gambler but those gambling machines just beckoned !I lost 5 bucks !!!
Father-in-law put in 50 cents and won $ 350 and grandma put in 25 cents and won $50.00

Heres some pictures
This is in Cozumel and what I assume is the most touristy part of the city!
This is a Mayan archealogical site in Progreso