Dad's last words (really just an email from Mom)

This is probably my last guest blog for awhile...at least until 1 of you travels! I just got a summary email from Mom that I think is very clever and wraps up dad's trip very nicely...

His plane left Manilla 2 minutes early at 9:58PM Manilla time. That is 6:58AM Arizona which is the same time as Colorado right now. He'll land in Los Angeles around 6:30PM tonight CA time. Which will be 7:30PM AZ time. He has a 4 hour layover in LA which will get him into AZ around 1AM tomorrow morning after a 95 minute flight. Now you know why I sound confused all the time. Allowing three hours to check in and get thru security and immigration was overkill... he said, "Been awake nearly 24 hours now. Immigration and security was super fast. Been sitting here for 2 hours. Seat will not be as nice. I will be in 16A." Not sure what it finally cost him to leave the Phillipines, but he had heard that he would have to pay 650 pesos to get thru immigration. The pix is the upper deck of the plane - I crudely marked his seat with the red arrow. Sorry to those of you who are colorblind. Just look for the squiggley funny colored line on the right hand side of the picture. Sorry to those who are directionally impaired - I just hope you are not colorblind too. If you are then maybe this will help - he's up there on that side of the plane by the window. If that doesn't help then nevermind. And that folks is the end of the presentation at this time.
Love, Caron





So jealous that he got to be on the upper deck!

Ok - this is not an update -

This should've been blogged about long ago - I think two weekends ago. I was hard, hard at work on strangers' taxes and Tommy and the boys were making me jealous. Not only was it a balmy 70 degrees outside, but they were going bullriding. I KNOW! A guy here in town raises buckin' bulls for the rodeos and Kyler is bound and determined that he is going to join the circuit (circus?) one day. So the guy who raises them invited Tommy, the boys and a bunch of other people to exercise some of the bulls after a long winter. The bull the young kids were riding is actually a pet and doesn't buck, but I'm pretty sure it made Kyler's week (he's wearing the chaps). Slayde was pretty excited about it too... I just wish I could've been there instead of just looking at the pictures. I'da been up there - you can bet on that. They say Tommy was riding... but oddly no pictures of evidence... suspicious, indeed.

Enjoy!
xBullriders extrordanaire

Daycare open for business - half run by very tired lady.

Well the daycare opened today - at 5:30! Do you know how much I wish I was kidding?? I took a sleeping pill last night around 8:30 ish so I could fall asleep and get enough sleep to get up at that time - thinking well the kid will sleep when he is dropped off. Not so much - got some sleep the kid was dropped off at 5:30 - and refused to sleep. We did watch Spongebob Squarepants and I admit I dozed, but every commercial, he would lose interest and look to me (OF all people!) for entertainment. Luckily Jenny came at 9:30 and relieved me - and I didn't have to work at taxes until 12, so I ran home and closed my eyes for a couple of hours. So I did ok - but I will sleep good tonight. Tomorrow no kids are being dropped off, I have to do taxes at 9, but I will sleep until 8:00. Soundly.

We still have some hoops to jump through for the city, including a hearing (!), but for at least the next 60 days the daycare is licensed and permitted. Right now we have 3 kids signed up - plus Jenny's baby. So things are a little slow, but we expect to things will fill up as the word spreads that we are open.

Sarah's movie -

Usually I think that being a baby again would be pretty awesome... but this would be one point when I'd want to kick someone in the nuts! And if you notice Sarah does smile for a moment and then instantly furrows her eyebrows.

Sarah's intestinal bypass surgery

Well Sarah has come out on the other side of her bypass surgery and now that she can digest, she's sure to start putting ON some weight!

#3 - the fruit bowl

YES! good for all of you Chimera is a female - she is from the Philippines. For those of you who id not know, the Philippines were run by the Spanish in the 1500s, the British for a while in the interim and the Spanish again in the 1800s. They gained independence in 1898. But most of the surnames and a lot of the first names are of Spanish origin.

Eating: Mostly, I have been eating a lot of fruit. I find Mango to be delicious - even had mango juice and mango fruit as part of one meal - YUMMY!

One day, I ate Eggs Florentine, the next Eggs Benedict - I prefer florentine :-)

I ate a breakfast roll that had some sort of fruit in the middle - it was gross! Now I have to watch out for it :-)

Security here is amazing - every building has an armed guard. The Mall entrance has armed guards, metal detectors and metal detecting wands. Some entrances even have male/female entrances separated. Every street corner has police. There are at least 10 armed guards around the hotel and at least 3 dogs around the entrance as well. If you bring a bag in, there is a guard at the door with a stick to poke around in your bag (including purses).

The people are all very cheerful and nice. But, I think they only know how to say Good Morning, Good Day, Good afternoon. And "table for one?". Everyone in the hotel smiles and greets you as you exit the building and as you enter the building. There is always someone at the elevators to hold the door and even sometimes push the floor button for you.

McDonalds for lunch today - Big Mac and Fries are the same her as in the US.

Everyday, I get fresh fruit. There have been bananas, oranges, and apples.

Guest blog #2

My second day in the Philippines:

So, I slept during the US night - I went to bed at about 3:30 in the afternoon and set a wakeup for 9:00 PM and again at 9:30 just in case. As part of setting a wake up call, they also block incoming calls - so - if anyone over there is thinking of
calling me in the middle of the night - think again!

Even though I was ready by 10, I gave my co-worker til 10:20 to contact me. After not having heard from him, I called him and he said he would be downstairs in 20 minutes. At 11:00, we finally met and caught a taxi.

From the pictures, you can see the office is only about 6 blocks away - but, it is not completely safe to be walking the streets at night - even with someone else - so, the taxi ride with tip is 100 pesos - wow again big spenders - but then again sure would be nice to work in a safe location and save the 5.00 a
day...




so work was interesting - I met my team for the first time after having worked with them for 6 months. The team is fun. I will do a name today and the quiz will be to
decide Sex and Nationality:

Chimera Eriqbuagas

They all had pitched in and provide a basket of gifts:

A walking stick
(cane to us simpler people)
A bag of adult diapers
several packages of health aids for the aged - I left them in the office today for fun - but will bring it to the Hotel Monday for pictures

All knew of Sarah
and her plight and were anxious to hear of the progress of my
granddaughter. I showed them the pictures in my wallet which include me
and Caron young and old - they called Caron an "iron head" or "Helmet
head". This concerned me at first - but then they explained it is a slang
term they use when a beautiful woman "hooks up" with a plain guy. So, I am
not a bit offended - it says what I have always believed :-)

The pictures - more will follow (no bathroom picture and No Bidet for Tara!) - there is no bidet.

I show the room entrance (wet bar to the side). the king sized bed on the rounded
wall.







There are only a few out the window pictures. The traffic will make everyone believe it is quiet here - but remember, Makati is a tourist place and this is Saturday - so traffic was very light!






















Anyway - that is all for today - this old man is tired and must get some sleep now. I will do more waling around tomorrow. I have new battery in the camera - so,
definitely more pictures to follow - maybe some night pictures of some of the
buildings too...

Love
Dad

Guest blog !

Hi All - Dad is safely in the Philipines and here is a delightful message from him! All I know is that this is great to read and didn't give me any nightmares. From now on - Dad will travel for me and just tell me how he slept and what he ate:

Landed safe and sound at around 6am Friday Philippines time. After getting
thru immigration/customs/baggage he heard some saying "are you Sir Lewis?"
My ride to the hotel. The car was stopped on the way for security
inspection - dog to sniff luggage too. The driver had 5 kids - oldest is 17.
I told him "I had four and the youngest was 21" -- he laughed and said I did
not look old enough. He looked at me at least twice tomake sure I wasn't
joking. I guess I don't look so old when I wear a ball cap :-)

The pix is the seating chart of the plane. He was in Seat 4A - which
completely lays flat into a bed. Personal TV and noise-cancelling earphones.
In-flight movie "Eagle Eye". He willingly ate Phil cuisine and survived
(they offered western cuisine but he felt adventurous.) You too can have all
that luxury for only $3500 USD rt. "...took off my shoes, pulled the blanket
up, loosened the seatbelt and slept on one side or the other..."


(He had a double decker plane!!)




The hotel (www.Shangri-la.com) Makati is luxurious. He is on the 16th floor
in a nice room (Bed, Couch, Desk, Flat Screen TV, 2 showers - standard
toilet. 4 bathrobes - 2 heavy-weight and 2 light-weight). room is cold -
what is the celcius conversion? Humidity is very high. Raining.
He tipped the Bellman 100 pesos. Hey Hey Big Spender (ok so it was only
about $2.50 us)
He goes to work tonight about 10pm his time and gets off work about 9am. He
is charging the camera to take some pictures out his window to send.

Food Digested so far on this adventure:
Snack in Business Class lounge at LA Airport: smoked salmon sandwich
Dinner in-flight: some sort of beef tips on green beans
Snack in-flight: some sort of rice porridge with chicken in it
Breakfast in-flight: cheese and tomato omelet

All of the above are things he would never eat in normal life. But since he
is doing this trip for all of us - he has to try new things!

spring fever!

It's 70 degrees here and I got the day off work - woohooo!!! I have to work from 7-9, but by then the sun will be down, and it will be cold again!

Daddy does Philly.

The Phillipines that is - dad is heading out today for the Islands for 16 glorious days... Hopefully we can get some good stories when he gets back.

Sarah is back in the ol' hospital. She's got a twist or a crimp in her intestines and her surgery to fix the situation is supposed to be this week. So hopefully the poor kid can eat. Oh, and while they are in there they are going to take out her appendix. One less thing she has to worry about exploding!