From the Sunny Mexico

We have been in Mexico for 5 days now and have had a pretty good time. A couple of key eating up dates. We went to Vitea on Sunday night, it is located along the Malecon which is like a waterfront boardwalk. Would recommend this restaurant, however lunch time might be a better time to eat there. We walked along the Malecon that evening to find out that Sunday is family night. It was very festive and great to see families taking thier children out for some great fun.

Monday we ended up shopping in town and found a great little place to purchase some one of a kind womens clothing store which had custom painted wear. The artist was at the shop and we had great fun (Linda) trying on most of the outfits with the help of the artise. Found some good deals on a silver bracelet near that store and then went into old town to walk around a bit more. Linda and I both were in PV years ago when we were not together. Linda remembered going to a Tortilla Factory when she was here. We ended up finding the place and it was great. You could buy 1/2 kilo of tortillas, as they came off the belt for 50 pesos, which is about 3 cents. There were probably 20 in a 1/2 of kilo. They also gave us a couple as they came out of the oven of the belt, just like getting a fresh donut at Krispy Kream. (we went back to the place on Tuesday)

Monday night we ended up eating at a Chili's which was pretty good.

Tuesday we decided to do a city tour. It was interesting because it took us to some of the outlying cities where most of the folks who work in PV live. We then went into town and spent a little too much time shopping. Finally started to head south towards some more secluded beach areas. The only negative thing about the tour was where we stopped for lunch, other then that it was fun. We then had dinner at Trio, which is owned by the same folks who own Vitea. It was fantastic and a must if you are visiting here. I had a pasta dish with shrimp and Linda had a snapper. This meal was as good as most we have had anywhere. The cost was under $100 us with drinks. In fact we have found the food to be quite good here and very reasonable.

We moved back to the Marriott on Wednesday and have spent the day on the beach and the pool. They put us in an oceanfront room so we have a direct view of the beach and ocean. This is by far the way to go. We have a new place planned for dinner that I will report on later.

Some things to watch for in PV - they are constantly trying to get folks to go do timeshare pitches. They offer all kinds of incentives - free tours, free tequila, discounted food and drinks. All of the tequila stores have a deal where they will give you a couple of bottles of tequila if you go on a pitch. We did one on Saturday because we wanted to see the place for future reference and we ended up staying at that resort for the day. It was good fun and we only had to indure a 90 minute sales presentation.


See you at the next post...

t go and we were treated to a great rain, thunder and lightning show. This was as good as any we had while living in Georgia.

rusted with a ginger coconut sauce that was to die for. It is the rainy season now but there has been little rain. While dining the clouds finally decided to le

a place called the Vista Grill - this is a must if visiting PV. Vista Grill offers one of the nicest views in the city. We both had the sea bass that was nut c

UPDATE FROM PV:
Room was a bit noisy last night, bed is nor thatv great. Probably would not stay at this resort again, but can tolerate. We did however dine at

o the Villa del Pal Mar where we will be staying for 6 days. Nice place, not as nice as the Marriott but quite comfortable. We will report on the activities of

the week as we go along.

about 45 percent occupied so it was pretty quite. We had dinner at Buenos Aires at the marina. The garlic shrimp was superb, would suggest. We then checked int

We are in Puerto Vallarta for a week and can provde the following advice. The Marriott hotel is very nice. Has a great pool area and access to the beach. It was

Spent a day in Dallas with a number of partners. Stayed at the W downtown. Nice hotel, room was well done and confortable. Had dinner at the restaurant at the h

I remember eating there when I lived there, it was good then and is good now.

otel. I would take a pass on it in the future. Ate lunvh at Chedders and had a little chicken fried steak, gravy, green beans and sweet tea. It was good eatin.

Am blogging from my Cell phone from Austin Texas. Got to spend time with the family today and tomorrow. Wanted to test this new feature.

Been a bit too long

It has been about 4 months since I blogged in. It has been a wild 4 months to say the least. I have not had any success in getting my running back to a normal level or my weight down. Too much travel and too little discipline. Linda and I did however purchase a home in Laguna Niguel. We will not be moving in until September, but we loved the house and interest rates were pretty low so we felt it made sense to go ahead and make the purchase. The girls also turned 21 in May, wow they are young ladies now, adults, all the things that make me feel like I am getting old(er). Work has been on hyperdrive, lots of travel. It has been fun though, I feel as though I have a far better understanding of how things work at the company.

I have read some pretty interesting books lately, so I will be updating my library soon. The economy is more stable then it was earlier this year, certainly not in recovery mode, but it has stopped falling. I find myself thinking that this slow down might end up being a good thing. It seems as though it has instilled some conservative ideas in folks in terms of spending. The savings rates are actually starting to climb at a pretty quick pace.

I have also signed in on facebook, so if you read this look me up.

Oh well, later......

Slowly we return

The weekend was pretty good, I was able to get my eating more in line with what it needs to be. Today I was able to run 3.12 miles at the Y and it felt pretty good. Made the 3 mile mark at 32:50. One of the thing that I have noticed is that my breathing is shorter than it has been in the past so I am going to add some speed work at the end of the runs to start to work my lungs a bit more. It looked like by heart rate was up to around 165 at the peak of the run, probably averaging around 140.

I have to travel this week and my plan is to avoid eating meats, eating more veggies and salads while I am out. I am also going to get my runs in on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. 3 miles each day is the goal. I did get some new running shoes that always makes a runner feel better.

Will update later this week.

Oh by the way, I was reminded while in church this morning that Ash Wednesday is coming up and then lent.

Great Plans, Poor Follow Through

There is never a shortage of great plans in terms of starting to run and eating healthy again. It seems that these days the follow through is just not there. I get going for a week or so, and then go back to the way it was only to have to start over again. This is not going to work. It is time to stick to it and see some positive changes. Will report back soon with progress.  

2009

It's the start of a new year, 2009 and as you can see it has been some time since I have posted to the blog.  It has been a really busy time. 2008 was full of change, most good and some not so good. My job change was really good, we also changed where we lived - from Rochester NY to Dana Point CA. That is not too tough of duty. While it took us a bit further from the girls, it brought us closer to a more tepid climate, something that Linda and I are both familiar with. We miss the great friends we made in Rochester for sure, there are folks that I know I will see for the rest of my life. The bad was simply my lack of commitment to exercise and diet. It is showing up in my mood and health. Started to see the blood pressure up a bit and sugar counts are starting to creep up slowly. The economy has been bad in general and while I would love to complain, it is tough to do. I have a roof over my head, am going to be able to get the girls through school and am not doing without. The other area where I have not been as committed as I would like is my connection to my faith. Linda and I have found a church, St. Andrews Methodist in San Clemente, I just have not really felt like I am involved yet.

So some short goals for 2009:

1) Get connected at church, be it teaching Sunday School or just attending a small group, I need to get my head back into it. I also need to re-energize my prayer life.

2) Start the exercise engine back up

3) Get back to fighting weight

4) Stop and smell the roses - make sure that I do not lose touch with what is important - Linda the girls and all of our health

5) Do the best I can at work

Of course another goal is to get back to the blog, in an odd kind of way it helps me stay focused.

A New Leaf

Well, I turned 50 a few days ago, had a great time back in New York with my friends and family. Then Linda, the girls and I flew to California which is where Linda and I will now be living. We have decided to lease a place in Dana Point. Its a pretty nice part of the world, we are going to be about a mile from the ocean. We have a pretty good view from the back of the house, which is the kitchen and dining room as well as the master bed and bathroom. We are looking forward to moving in. Kitty has really handled the move well. She has been on a plane and in the car more then ever in the past. The girls are both back at school getting ready for their Jr. years. They have both done very well and I expect will have happy and productive lives. They are both training for a marathon which will be great. When they were visiting they had a 16 mile run - that is a long long way. 

We have found some pretty good places to eat around the apartment we are in - did I mention that we are in a one bedroom apartment! It is just like when Linda and I met in San Francisco. (It was also pretty packed when the four of us were in it for the week the girls were here) We go to a place calls Fred's quite a bit, which is a Mexican cantina type place, or at least we were going there. Now we are both trying to stick to a more restricted eating and drinking plan. Will report on that later. It has been great having Linda here to say the least, our life is getting back to being a bit more normal - the biggest difference between here and NY is that we are outside more, we are able to walk everywhere. 

Oh well, the next couple of weeks should be fun. I will report later.

The Heat Is On

It has been really hot in Southern California this week - 95 in the Beach areas, 100+ inland. Since I have no air in apartment in Dana Point, it makes it a bit more difficult to get cooled down. It has been a real help to have joined the 24 hour fitness here - it has allowed me to run in doors and start to build my base back up. I was able to get a 6 miler in this weekend!

I went and drove around some areas that I have not spent much time in yet. There are some really nice areas around Dana Point and Laguna - we may look at leasing for a while so that we can get a better feel for the area. I will post some pictures up when I get a reader that I can connect to the laptop. All in all I am pretty bored being here without Linda and the girls, I just run out of things to do. I am really dreading the July 4th weekend, three days of boredom. Oh well - I guess I have to go figure it out.

Oh well, got to keep the running up this week and get ready for a 7 miler next weekend.

Some Better Running Days

The new job has made running a bit more challenging, really not having Linda around has made it challenging. I did however join the local gym and have started to get some runs and cross trains in. This weekend I went for a 5 mile on the treadmill, it has been a while since I ran 5 miles. Today I was able to get a 4 mile run in along the beach area in Dana Point. The weather is pretty nice right now so getting outside is good. It is nice to have access to a steam room and suana after my workouts.

I have started to add some cross training is just to keep it interesting. No telling where it will go from here, but it is a bit better. The girls put in a 7 miler over the weekend - wow....

I am getting a little bored being by myself most of the time. The weekends are a challenge. We are not getting a great deal of action on the house in Rochester which makes it a little more stressful. I know it is harder on Linda because she has to play the waiting game back there. Well we have to keep the faith. Work is going well, starting to get a little settled - still have lots and lots to learn but at least I am starting to get into some key routines. Will try to update more often. Of course the best thing that could happen for me is a little weight loss. I go out to lots of lunches and dinners - just keep trying to eat a little lighter. Also have to keep away from the beer, it really adds to the waistline.

Will try to update with some pics next time, it is beautiful here most of the time. There have really been no bad weather days.

Later